2010 Successive Spring Cruises

[capnpugwash]

Great posts, well done

[Love Cruises]

That is so informative about the macaque monkeys doing the harvesting of the coconuts. I never heard this before. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

So now that you have been on the QM, QMII, QEII and QV --- which one do you like the best?

 

As you know I absolutely loved the QEII !

 

Barbara

[michellejed]

I stumbled across your wonderful "blog" today and look forward to reading more!

 

What a wonderful adventure so far! Enjoy every minute of it.

[rolfecms]

At the early seating I found the restaurant less elegant than expected. This may have been an impression clouded by my recent time on the Crystal Symphony, but I thought I remembered the Britannia Dining room on QM2 being much more elegant.Roy

 

Roy, I'm interested to know what makes the QM2 dining room more elegant than the QV.

[rafinmd]

Roy, I'm interested to know what makes the QM2 dining room more elegant than the QV.

 

I'm totally relying on memory here, but the colors on the QV seemed kind of dark and bland, and the furnishings all seemed very plain. I may be wrong here, my judgement may have been clouded by my comparison to the Symphony still fresh in my memory just 3 days earlier.

 

Barbara, I think my preference is for QMII. I find it very well laid out and easy to get around, and a visually attractive ship.

[rafinmd]

Today is a beautiful day at sea. While it got hot as the day progressed, conditions were perfect for my morning walk.

 

I came face to face today with one of Cunard's practices that you don't see often in the cruise industry. I'll find out more later, but especially on the World Cruise, they seem to be disembarking and boarding passengers every few days, rather than breaking the voyage up into uniform segments, and the segment definitions seem to be tailored to the British market. From Cunard's standpoint, this official segment runs from Hong Kong to Singapore, with the next segment going Singapore to Dubai. The segment marketed to us Americans straddles two of these. There will be big changes in passengers and staffing in Singapore. Apparently there will be a complete change of entertainers and lecturers as we pass through Singapore, but today I got at least a glimpse at some of those leaving.

 

After embarkation and a port day, the Cunard Insights program came on today with a bang. The morning started off with Destination Lecturer Gerald Davison speaking on "Singapore - the Lion City", followed by Margaret Gilmore on "How safe is our world? Our perception of risk versus the reality". While she touched on the hot topics of piracy and terrorism, she emphasized the perspective that today our major threats are disease, especially pandemic flu (and our sedentary lifestyle), flooding (especially related to global warming), and increasingly cybercrime, and that the things we worry about most are often the least dangerous. The final lecture of the day was on "The Life and Music of Al Jolson" by Musical Historian Roy Hunt.

 

In the afternoon we were treated to a special Big Band Extravaganza in the Royal Court Theater. The Royal Court Orchestra joined up with the Queens Room Orchestra in a superb performance hosted by and featuring our guest performer Kenny ******.

 

We had a wonderful evening comedy show by guest entertainer John Martin. He touched on a number of topics, including politics (mostly British but also international), growing up, and cruise ship life.

 

As my parting shot tonight, I note while walking around the ship many bags sitting outside stateroom doors. Normally, mine would be among them. How sweet it is that my bags are still tucked under my bed.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The day was pleasant but quite hot. We are too big for the passenger terminal, so we were docked in the container port. Since my excursion took virtually the entire day this did not really matter to me but was a bit of a challenge for those going out on their own.

 

I was on the "Signature Heritage" tour our guide Alvin took us first to the National Arboretum. Singapore is the 2nd most densely populated country in the world, so the few natural areas remaining are deeply cherished, including lightning rods on a number of the trees.

 

When Singapore was founded there were a number of areas set aside to keep various ethnic groups segregated. We visit several of these. In Little India there were a number of small shops in quaint buildings. At our 3rd stop we visited a small museum showing some of the history and culture of Singapore. It included a display of the transition in Singapore housing, with a replica of a traditional ramshackle hut and one of today's apartments in a high-rise state subsidized building where the vast majority of the population lives today. Some are larger but the majority are about 650 square feet.

 

The site of Singapore was originally swamp land. It has been filled in, and also expanded outwards to the point where it can not be expanded outwards any more, but some new land is being created by filling in spaces between islands. We made a stop at the current waters edge near some of the major landmarks. Several of the older buildings surround a large grass square including the old supreme court building. Nearby is the performing arts center, a rather strange building resembling a large turtle shell, as unique if not as attractive as the Sydney Opera House. Just across the water, a spectacular new casino complex is under construction. The casino itself looks huge, even from a mile or so away, but right alongside is a hotel composed of 3 massive towers resembling inverted y's. These are nearing completion and on top there is a huge deck spanning the tops of all 3 towers and extending out probably 150 feet in either direction from the ends. The extension at one end is pretty well finished but barely started at the opposite end. When finished this will be an open air garden probably 200 meters in the air with a swimming pool.

 

In Chinatown we stopped at the Buddha's Tooth Temple and had about an hour for strolling or shopping. The Temple was a very active place of worship, but also very open and accommodating to visitors. Buddhism seems to share with many religions a real affinity for any article associated with the deity or prophets. Alvin believes that if all the places with Buddha's teeth were real, he must have had about 300 of them.

 

Our final stop was a hill overlooking the harbor. Singapore is pretty flat and this 300 meter hill is one of very few. The view of the city and neighboring islands was spectacular.

 

With 600 new passengers embarking a more traditional muster drill at the actual muster stations, and while optional I decided to participate. The Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers made their first brief appearance in my part of the voyage with a tribute to the music of Simon and Garfunkel, along with a performance by former Cats lead Jeri Sager.

 

My parting shot today takes on an unfortunately negative tone. We were 75 minutes late leaving Singapore today. The authorities there have rather strict documentation requirements. We were required to carry our passports while on shore and to return them along with our Singapore departure cards at the end of our time ashore. These requirements were very clearly spelled out in many ways, through the Daily Programme, discussion of the issue on the morning by CD (Entertainment Director in Cunard terminology) Alastair Greener, flyers delivered to staterooms, cards placed in the passports, reminders at the gangway, and PA announcements. Unfortunately a few of our people (apparently about 10, and hopefully first and last time Cunarders) could not be bothered following the rules and left us sitting at the dock for over an hour. May we never follow in their footsteps.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The morning walk was pleasant but the day soon got quite hot. We were again docked at a container port at Port Kelang (pronounced clang, and named for the clanging of chains on the ox harnesses first used in loading and unloading ships). By the time we left the ship it was hot and so humid the feeling of stepping on shore was somewhere between entering fog and stepping into a steam bath. Our guide Julie Chang met us for the 45 minute drive into Kuala Lampur (KL) and our "Colorful Kuala Lampur" tour. On the way to our first stop, the botanical garden, we passed the Royal Palace. Malaysia has a number of states, with 9 under the leadership of Sultans. These 9 take turns in a 5-year rotation at being the monarch of the country.

 

Our first destination was the national botanical garden. We toured first the Orchard Garden, then went on to the Hibiscus Garden. This was a very elaborate garden since the hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia. It was a very short ride to the butterfly garden. I wasn't particularly impressed with the butterflies but the setting was beautiful and there were several unusual turtles; a long neck variety with a neck as long as it's shell, and several soft shell varieties.

 

We had a wonderful buffet lunch at a local restaurant, and visited one of the major squares of the city. While Malaysia is a mainly Islamic country all religions are accepted, and the one church we visited was the 100-year-old Anglican Cathedral. The square also houses several government buildings and the world's tallest flag pole. The Malaysian flag is modeled after the US flag, but with a 14th white stripe on the bottom, and a new moon rather than stars in the corner. Our inevitable shopping stop was at a very modern mall at the foot of the twin towers. The towers are extremely impressive stainless steel and glass structures, about 80 stories tall with a scenic sky bridge between the two on the 41st and 42nd floors. It would have been a very scenic spot, but tickets to go there are very popular and usually sold out by 9AM. The mall reminded me a lot of the Mall of America. While relatively compact, it is 6 levels with wide spaces in the middle so it feels very spacious. We returned to the ship about 5PM.

 

We gained back the hour we lost when we jogged to Singapore, and the time was used for an entertainment double bill. The show in the Royal Court Theater was Opera Interludes, a group of 4 singers and pianist performing a number of arias. It was a bit too high brow for my tastes. This was promptly followed by a concert in the Queens Room featuring the Royal Cunard Singers (with the dancers getting the night off), accompanied by the combined Royal Court and Queens Room Orchestras and a string quartet. They performed a number of medleys of popular music and were superb.

 

My parting shot will refer back to my Crystal Serenity Transatlantic Cruise in November 2008. One of the lecturers was a geographer who present a series on "Why Geography Matters", and he widened my horizons on what the subject encompasses. One of the examples he gave was from the 2004 Tsunami of some young tourists who observed the water level dropping on the beach and understood from their study of geography what was coming next. They were able to warn a number of people near them to get out of the way before the Tsunami hit. I was of course aware of the event but had not realized before the Daily Programme arrived exactly where the event had been. Even as on who claims to be relatively well educated, my knowledge of geography is woefully deficient, and I fear I am not alone. Travel should help us be more geographically aware, but so often we board a big metal cylinder at A and arrive at B a few hours later with no understanding of what lies in between. It took the Queen Victoria to put one memorable event into context for me.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I know I owe answers on some questions, and I should be able to get to them now that I'm caught up with daily posting.

 

My morning walk went generally well with a minor hitch. Since this is a tender port the deck was closed off near the end of my walk. An officer at one of the ropes told me they were preparing the boats and would reopen the deck in 15 minutes. Since I was so close to the end, I decided to just judge the remainder of the walk by time instead of laps. The deck actually reopened in less than 10 minutes, so if this happens in the future, I'll simply head up to the lido for a cup of coffee and resume my walk later. On the morning show CD Greener interviewed the Security Chief, touching on the issue of piracy, and special steps will be taken after the ship leaves Dubai. He did indicate that the problems in the Strait of Malacca, where we are now, have improved recently.

 

We arrived about 10 and it was about 11 when I was ashore for my "Authentic Phuket" tour. Our guide was Sue, who had also been my guide in Koh Sumai. Phuket is an island, the largest in Thailand, almost directly across the peninsula from Koh Sumai, about 250 miles away by land. The island is about 50 km North to South and 20 km across, and is connected to the mainland by a causeway at the North end. We crossed a steep mountain pass to Phuket Town, one of the old settlements on the island. At the first stop, we walked through the local market, getting a look at a wide variety of local fruits and vegetables, and continued on to one of the oldest houses on the island, originally built 100 years ago by people in the tin mining business, which was the original livelihood on the island. It is of Sino-Portuguese design, and is in the 6th generation of the original family, occupied by a widow who lives on the second floor with the first floor open to the public. We were served tea and refreshments.

 

After visiting a pair of Buddhist temples we went on to a short shopping stop. The shopping was of little interest but we were served coffee and other beverages, and returned to the pier about 4. Sue explained that the dock our tenders used was pretty much ground zero for the Tsunami, which had made it's way up through most of the town.

 

The evening entertainment was Yalba, who performed music from around the world on a variety of instruments, including variations on percussion, fiddle, guitar, bagpipe, and flute, including a flute made from PVC pipe.

 

For my parting shot today, it was interesting to visit the site of the December 26, 2004 Tsunami. Despite the massive devastation and loss of life, the area has fully recovered and has come back probably better than before the event. It is a tribute to what dedicated people can do in the face of adversity.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Roy ... no longer a polliwog ... good for you ! I always enjoy the King Neptune ceremony but have never seen the Capt. thrown into the pool. That had to be really funny.

 

I think Captain Zander is one of a kind. He was interviewed on the CD's morning show shortly before we arrived in Sydney and indicated he had worked on expedition ships before coming to Crystal and I think working smaller ships helped shape his personality. Most larger ship Captains I have seen, including Crystals, seem to big picture oriented and leave most of the catering to passengers to their subordinates. Ralf Zander is a wonderful exception. He is out around the ship a lot and regularly has his breakfast in the Ledo, so he is quite accessible. This is at least the second time he has gone in the pool recently. This is from a blog on the Symphony's circumnavigation of South America:

 

Saturday, January 16th, we crossed the Equator on our way home from South America. This would be my twelfth crossing, and the ceremony held onboard Symphony was my most enjoyable one yet. King Neptune, as played by Jimmy Travis, held court to try and initiate those guests and crew who have not crossed before. Naturally, all are convicted of unspeakable crimes and sentenced to surgery by the ship’s Doctor, Raul, who is a personal friend of mine. After some mock surgery, they are slimed, made to kiss a salmon and then thrown into the pool. The event culminated with the Captain giving birth to the salmon and then being dunked. A good time was had by all.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=23206267&highlight=equator#post23206267

 

Also, while I have enjoyed the original Queen Mary as a hotel and museum, I don,t think I'd have liked it as a ship. I tend to prefer to take a basic cabin and instead spend my money on being on a nicer ship. In the case of QM, I think I would probably been in a 2nd or 3rd class cabin and would not have been thrilled with the result. The class structure was apparently so rigid that even as a First Class passenger some parts of the ship would not have been readily accessible.

[rafinmd]

Roy, I'm interested to know what makes the QM2 dining room more elegant than the QV.

 

One other thing I'll mention is that the ceilings are fairly low and seem a bit confining. While I'm on the upper level for dinner, I had breakfast this morning on the lower level, which has a center section open to the upper level, and that has a nicer, more open feeling.

[rafinmd]

We are heading mostly westward but also a bit south so the heat remains rather oppressive. I did do a little extra walking, completing my 5 miles about sunrise, and also participating in the group walk a mile, also before the day's heat really kicked in. My activities today were primarily in the Royal Court Theater morning and evening, with a busy afternoon in the Queens Room. The Cunard Insights Lecture Program resumed in great form with a new set of speakers boarding in Singapore. Retired US diplomat Joseph Snyder spoke on "Singapore and Malaysia: Multiethnic Success Stories", followed by former British Chief Constable John Stalker on "From Rookie to the Top", and Political Analyst Jonathan Fenby on "China's Extraordinary History: Empire, Warlords, and Revolution".

 

Captain Rynd came on with 2 midday announcements. About 11:50am he let us know we were passing the last piece of land for a while, the Island of Great Nicobar. This island, a posession of India, is virtually closed to the public and was severely devastated by the 2004 Tsunami, with the loss of about 6000 lives. It marks our passage from the Andaman Sea to the less sheltered Bay of Bengal. This was soon followed by the traditional noon update, primarily communicating continued hot weather.

 

In the Queens Room we were treated to an early Dixieland concert by the Royal Court Theater Orchestra, Tea time, and the Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party.

 

The entertainment for this evening in the Royal Court Theater was a variety show of followup performances by 2 of out earlier headline acts, instrumentalist Yalba and singer Jeri Sager, featuring Broadway tunes that became pop standards. We get an extra half hour of sleep tonight as we prepare for our arrival in Cochin.

 

Since this is the first of 3 days of sea, my only multiple sea days on Queen Victoria, I will take my parting shot from the ship itself. After dinner I took one extra slow lap around the Promenade deck. There are signs posted at regular intervals, all under the heading of Quote Quest. One I liked was from English auto maker Sir Henry Royce, "Small things make perfection, but perfection is not a small thing".

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The weather was quite pleasant for my morning walk with a very nice sunrise. Since it is Palm Sunday the Cunard Insights series has been cut back somewhat. While Cunard and Crystal both carry priests for daily Catholic, the traditions are different for other Christians. On Crystal the Priest holds a non-denominational service on Sundays at Sea, while the Cunard Sunday service is led by the Captain. While I'm sure Captain Rynd could have led a fine Palm Sunday service, he would have had difficulty holding an Easter Service while we were docking in Dubai. Our service today was performed by a retired Baptist Minister who will also lead services on Good Friday and Easter. Captain Rynd did assist with the service today, passing out palm crosses and reading the gospel. We are also have passover coming up and I know a Rabbi is on board and reservations are being taken for a Satyr, but I don't yet know any other details.

 

The Insights program did resume in late morning with a presentation by former diplomat Joseph Snyder on "A short history of India", and "China: the new superpower" by historian Jonathan Fenby.

 

My favorite lunch place on the Crystal Symphony was the Trident Grill with great burgers and grilled sandwiches. QM2 has the Boardwalk Cafe which seems like a good idea, but is unfortunately in a very exposed upper deck position and I've never seen it open. The Lido Pool Grill on QV is tucked neatly behind the Lido Cafe and was the source of a great burger today. It is unfortunate I have so many shore tours that overlap lunch and will not get there often.

 

Usual Commodore Club singer/pianist Graham Wellard gave an afternoon concert in the Queens Room featuring timeless songs from the 20's through 40's, followed by afternoon tea.

 

With Opera Interludes in the Royal Court Theater again, it was time to explore the full range of other evening entertainment. On deck 2 Pianist Greg Sampson played jazz with a healthy dose of ragtime in the Golden Lion Pub. There was ballroom dancing in the Queens Room. The Chart Room featured a variety of entertainment in shifts, including Ellen Smith on the harp, Ferry P Bedy on the piano with easy listening tunes, the Royal Court Theater Orchestra with jazz, and the Eos String Quartet. Up on deck 10 Graham Wellard performed on the piano in the Commodore Club and DJ Gary King hosted music in the Hemispheres Night Club.

 

I will probably take a number of my parting shots from the Promenade Quote Quest series. Today's is "Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them more", originally by Oscar Wilde.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The day started out cloudy, although a sliver of space allowed the sunrise to show through, a half hour after we saw some lightning in the distance. By the 7:30 group walk we had a bit of rain on deck, but it didn't last.

 

The Cunard Insights resumed in full form. Joseph Snyder spoke on Indian Politics: How the World's Largest Democracy Functions". Constable John Stalker s;poke on his transition from a Chief Detective to a speaker and journalist. Hostage negotiator James Alverez started a series on "The Psychology of Persuasion". He started with a review of 6 essential concepts he considers essential to influencing others behavior, reciprocity, public commitment, social acceptance, authority, likability, and scarcity, and made the initial points that listening is the key more than talking and that we can't really change the behavior of others but our own behavior will have an influence on them.

 

I am not normally a devotee of specialty restaurants, but Todd English had a special offer so I had lunch there today. Most of the selections on the menu were a bit exotic for my tastes, but I had a lovely steak and the service and intimate setting on deck 2 midships were superb. In his noon report, Captain Rynd reported that the Indian Monsoon season can start in late March early April.

The Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers had their first full performance of my segment with Dance Passion, a display of dances from around the world, with the singers having a limited role.

 

Today's parting shot starts with remarks by Dr. Alverz. One of his points was that a tool in persuasion is the making of a public commitment. This certainly has an application to booking a cruise. Earlier in the week I had made a booking and part of the reasoning was "If I don't act now, I probably never will." I have had a tendency to sail great ships for the first time when they are on the verge of retirement, as I did with QE2 and Rotterdam V. I have no history as an early sailor on new ships, but hope to change that when QE does it's tandem crossing with QV in January. I'm not sure that will happen, but at least it's now on my priority list.

 

Roy

[rolfecms]

I have no history as an early sailor on new ships, but hope to change that when QE does it's tandem crossing with QV in January. I'm not sure that will happen, but at least it's now on my priority list.

 

We've reserved space on next January's QE's TA and looking forward to it as our first Cunard experience. Hope to see you there!

[rafinmd]

The weather for my morning walk was pleasant making it good to walk before the day heats up. We arrived in Cochin about 8AM. The first European settlers were the Portuguese around the time of Columbus, and the area was later occupied by the Dutch and then the British. The area consists of 3 islands, the middle man-made around the time of WWII, connected by bridges. We docked on the middle island, which is entirely a commercial area. Cochin is among the best harbors in the south of India, and is a major naval base. In his morning show, CD Alastair Greener noted that India has 550 million voters.

 

My tour "Fort Cochin Walking Tour", left about 10AM, and by then the weather had gotten very hot and humid, and most of the busses in Cochin, including ours, were not air conditioned. Our guide, Cadesius told us on our way to the tour start that Cochin is about 50% christian, very unusual. Fort Cochin has been a major trading and fishing port over the years, our walking tour started by the water with a demonstration of Chinese fishing nets. The nets are shaped like a tennis racket about 10 meters square with a 15-meter handle and are built with a pivot where the net meets the handle. They are lowered into the water at high tide, and after a period they haul the handle down by ropes, lifting the net out of the water to gather the fish. They are seasonally successful, and also seem to get some play as a tourist attraction. On out tour we visited 2 cathedrals. The majority of the Cochin christian population is Roman Catholic and Santa Cruz is the Roman Catholic cathedral. It is an interesting building with elements of both traditional design and some features reminiscent of a mosque. St Francis was originally build as a Roman Catholic church, but was converted to Anglican when the British took over the area. The Bishop's House had a small museum devoted to the Catholic churches of the area. The streets of Fort Cochin were an eclectic mix of Dutch, Portuguese, and British architecture. Our final stop of the walking tour was a local hotel which was a bit small and not terribly attractive, but we enjoyed refreshments, beverages, and especially soaked up the air conditioning.

 

We returned to the ship in the early afternoon, but the heat was so oppressive few people left the ship the rest of the day. There was a late afternoon local talent show by Kathakali and Mohiniattam of local dancing and dramatic culture, and the evening entertainment was West End singer and commedian Mike Doyle.

 

Today's parting shot, from the Quote Quest series, is originally by British Actress Dame Ellen Tery: "Eulogy is nice, but one does not learn anything from it".

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The weather was excellent for my morning walk, and Captain Rynd took advantage of an opportunity to get out and walk a mile or so at the same time, but there was one sad note to the walk. As I reported from my second morning on the Crystal Symphony, there was a beautiful full moon as I started my walk. While it was a bit subdued in clouds today, there is another full moon today, meaning I've already enjoyed a full month of this, but it's soon coming to an end.

 

There were 2 presentations today in the Cunard insights series. Diplomat Joseph Snyder gave a talk on "Bombay: Maximum City" covering the history and culture of Mumbai, followed by Dr. Joseph Alverez on "The Art and Science of Negotiation", followed at 12:15 by a backstage tour of the Royal Court Theater. CD Greener did say that the Royal Court Theater on the Queen Elizabeth will be the same design but decorated differently.

 

In the afternoon we had a classical concert in the Queens Room featuring a piano and cello duo of William Burroughs and Neil Georgeson. The evening entertainment was a juggling performance by Luke Burrage. His final routine was a real riot as he juggled 3 knives from a platform balanced on a cylinder on top of his small chest. He used 3 audience volunteers to hold the knives and steady him as he mounted his precarious perch, but the ascent was still very awkward.

 

My parting shot today is from the Quote Quest series, this one from Lord Mountbatten: "In my experience, I have always found that you cannot have an efficient ship unless you have a happy ship, and you cannot have a happy ship unless you have an efficient ship".

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

My morning walk was a bit different today since tidal considerations required a 3AM arrival in Mumbai, and we were tied up when I awoke. Mumbai (Bombay) was originally 7 islands which have been filled in together to form a peninsula. The population of Mumbai is about 20 million, and it is the financial capital, although not the political capital, of India.

 

CD Alastair Greener reported on the morning show that QM2 will be serving as a floating hotel at the 2012 Olympics in London, and that the ship's funnels would be painted a shade of orange that supposedly matched Cunard's original colors. I understand that on April 1 of previous years, he has come up with some other interesting stories.

 

My tour today was called "The Buddhist Trail", although it was a bit more of a heritage area than an actual trail. The site is north of the city and the pier is on the south side, so we were a couple of hours in the heavy traffic. We passed some very elegant buildings including especially the Victoria Terminus rail station, some fairly nice housing buildings, and a lot of slums. Traffic was quite bad, apparently worse than normal. Mumbai is working on a subway system but it isn't ready yet, although about 9 million people commute daily on suburban rail lines. The streets are a very chaotic mix of bicycles, motorcycles, TucTucs (motorcycle-based taxis), taxis, cars, trucks, and busses, with a lot of horn usage, and apparently local drivers appreciate others using the horn as they approach.

 

The Kanheri Buddhist Caves date back from about 100BC through 1100AD, and there are over 100 caves in the complex. They are not true caves, although some probably started out as such and were enlarged to many times their original size. Most are fairly simple structures that served as dwellings for monks, but the first ones we encountered were massive temples with a huge Buddha inside and many elaborate carvings. They are set on a hill at elevations ranging from 385 to 675 feet, and there is a sort of "trail" running from one cave to the next, but the attraction is the cave/excavations rather than the trail. The site reminded me a lot of Petra on a smaller scale. It is not a WOW! like Petra, but I thought it was a legitimate Wow. I thought it was by far the best excursion of the voyage.

 

The evening entertainment was a variety show combining the last 2 nights acts, singer/comedian Mike Doyle and juggler Luke Burrage. We also gained a half hour as we get start the transition to Muscat time.

 

Today's parting shot comes from the Quote Quest series, this one by Oscar Wilde: "Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them more".

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

There was a strong wind today for the morning walk, and Captain Rynd was out walking for a couple of miles also. Reverend Don Mason led a Good Friday service with Communion in the morning in the Queens Room, while a Catholic Mass was held in the Royal Court Theater. A Sabbath Eve service was held in the early evening.

 

The Cunard Insights program for this segment ended in strong fashion. Diplomat Joseph Snyder spoke on "The Gulf: A Political Crossroads". One of his chief points is that the Persian Gulf has historically been a barrier to cultural exchange rather than the unifier that usually happens with a waterway. Dr. James Alverez presented "Case Name: Telegraph - An Iraqi Kidnap Story", a recent case study on how he uses the principles of persuasion and negotiation he described in his first two talks to bring about a successful rescue. The final lecture of the voyage was by Historian Jonathan Fenby "Alliance: How Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin won one war and began another", describing the way 3 very different people who really didn't like each other very much brought WWII to a successful conclusion.

 

The afternoon was time for the passenger talent show with 6 acts, 3 singers, a lady doing a song in sign language, a harmonica, and one comedian. This was followed by the boat race in the Pavilion Pool.

 

The Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers made one of their few appearances of the voyage with "A Stroke of Genius", interpreting major works of art in music and dance, although the connection to works of art was a bit tenuous. A world voyage presents an entertainment as there are people on board an extended time who do not want to see the same shows over and over, while others get only a fleeting look at the cast. This is really the only full production number featuring the group as a unit. Dance Passion featured the dancers with only a bit part for the singers with just a few numbers where they stood were back among the orchestra, while the singers had their day in the sun in the Queens Room. The Simon and Garfunkel tribute did have the cast as a cohesive unit, but it was only a short program. The full cast working together in a complete program was wonderful.

 

On my last sea day on this great ship with at least 39 countries represented from just the passengers, for my parting shot I'll mention 2 comments from today's programs. In his Good Friday sermon Pastor Don Mason told the story of an organist giving a concert on a classic pipe organ, one with a manual bellows to supply the air. He announced "For my first selection, I'll play a piece by Mozart". When he touched the keyboard nothing happened. He repeated the process 2 more times with the same results. Finally, a small voice from the machinery room came out, "Until you say we, there will be no music". Jonathan Fenby spoke of how 3 very different men, who did not necessarily get along together, changed the course of history in WWII. When we work together we can make beautiful music on change the world in many wonderful ways.

 

Roy

[Exec Libra]

Roy, I'm finally catching up with your very well written and informative blog. Is it my imagination or are you having a lot more fun on the QV than the Symphony? Or maybe it's just that the shore excursions have helped keep your keen mind active!

 

My family, our friends Suzanne and Dick and I very much enjoyed cruising with you aboard Symphony and hope to see you again soon.

 

Best regards, and please stay in touch.

 

Chuck-

[rafinmd]

Roy, I'm finally catching up with your very well written and informative blog. Is it my imagination or are you having a lot more fun on the QV than the Symphony? Or maybe it's just that the shore excursions have helped keep your keen mind active!

 

My family, our friends Suzanne and Dick and I very much enjoyed cruising with you aboard Symphony and hope to see you again soon.

 

Best regards, and please stay in touch.

 

Chuck-

 

Chuck, there's just no substitute for visiting new places even if the level of service is down a notch. I would certainly have enjoyed doing the same itinerary next year on Serenity, but have no regrets. As I look at next year's World Cruise brochure, I got (rather by accident) 17 days of Crystal Service and 15 days of great ports for about the same price as 14 nights on Serenity next year.

 

I'll add one other thing, I don't think there's a match anywhere for the Crystal Cruise Critic people. It's a superb pleasure logging onto the Crystal board and even a greater pleasure meeting the same people on board.

[rafinmd]

We are now North of the Tropic of Cancer and my morning walk was pleasantly cool. In a bit of a welcome surprise, Muscat had been advertised as a tender port, but we docked instead. My trip to Sydney was all places I had been before, while up to now my Cunard segment has been all new places. I have been to Muscat and Dubai previously, on the Silver Whisper. Ironically the Silver Whisper is on the adjoining dock today. I think of the two, I prefer the ship I have booked this time.

 

Oman is a Sultanate, ruled by a Sultan which is an Islamic variety of monarch. The current Sultan has been ruling for about 40 years and has greatly modernized the country. My tour in Muscat was "Mystical Dhow Cruise". Dhow is a generic term for ships of the Arabian Sea with several varieties in use. Ours was probably 70 feet long (20 meters) and had a capacity of 40 people. They have traditionally been sailing ships but ours was totally motorized. The view of the harbor was good but the main attraction turned out to be a large school of dolphin swimming within 100 feet of our vessel. We returned to the ship early in the afternoon, and few people ventured out since the midday shop closing continued until nearly our 4:30PM departure.

 

The evening entertainment was pianist Mac Frampton, quite a showman who performed a wide variety of lively music from classical to rock to his own compositions.

 

Today's parting shot has it's origins in the Britannia Dining Room. I have 2 tablemates who admittedly are fans of Oceania Cruises. They don't like dressing up for dinner, and it seems to them that Cunard can do nothing right. The first night they complained constantly, and they did have some legitimate concerns, but when they were quickly corrected the complaints became a constant "well, they should have done it the other way from the start". I hate to say this, but I was not disappointed that they rarely showed up for dinner. This negativity was the last thing I needed while making the adjustment from spectacular service on Crystal to excellent/superb service from Cunard. If you have spectacular service, revel in the ecstasy. Given superb service savor the splendor. If the service is excellent cherish the glory. If it is good love the experience. If less than good, I think I agree with Capnpugwash that a poor day at sailing beats a good day ashore, but have limited experience to make that comparison. I think I first heard this from Harry Morgan as Col. Potter on MASH, but it could easily have been Casey Stengell: "If you aren't where you are, you're nowhere".

 

Roy

[Sunbubble]

"Today's parting shot has it's origins in the Britannia Dining Room. I have 2 tablemates who admittedly are fans of Oceania Cruises. They don't like dressing up for dinner, and it seems to them that Cunard can do nothing right. The first night they complained constantly, and they did have some legitimate concerns, but when they were quickly corrected the complaints became a constant "well, they should have done it the other way from the start". I hate to say this, but I was not disappointed that they rarely showed up for dinner. This negativity was the last thing I needed while making the adjustment from spectacular service on Crystal to excellent/superb service from Cunard. If you have spectacular service, revel in the ecstasy. Given superb service savor the splendor. If the service is excellent cherish the glory. If it is good love the experience. If less than good, I think I agree with Capnpugwash that a poor day at sailing beats a good day ashore, but have limited experience to make that comparison. I think I first heard this from Harry Morgan as Col. Potter on MASH, but it could easily have been Casey Stengell: "If you aren't where you are, you're nowhere"."

I totally agree with you. Why on earth did they choose to sail on Cunard? Didn't they read the dress code? I just realized that that is the main reason I like Crystal so much --- the people are so nice: no shoving, complaining, etc. that is so common on other ships (or so I have heard). BTW, I really enjoy reading of your adventures in sailing! One think on my "bucket" list is a cruise around the world. Maybe someday --- if I win the lottery!! Janet

[rafinmd]

It was a very pleasant day for my morning walk, followed by an Easter service in the Royal Court Theater. The Promenade deck is starting to show visible signs of harenning measures to prepare for passage through waters with a history of piracy. More measures will be taken after the ship leaves Dubai. At the end of the service we were just making our way sideways into the pier with 2 Costa ships behind us and the QE2 immediately in front of us. It still looks very stately despite the sad touches of no Cunard name on the side and Port Vila replacing Southampton on the stern. The gate blocking access to the ship was about 100 meters away from the stern.

 

The United Arab Emirates is a union of 7 individual states, each ruled by an Emir. It was formerly a British Protectorate, with the states getting their independence about 1979 and forming a union a year later. It has a population of 4.8 million, 4 million "locals", foreigners admitted for permanent residence and 800,000 citizens.

 

My tour was "Sharjah's East Coast". Sharjah is one of the 7 Emirates comprising the UAE. It is about a half hour drive from the port and is developing, but not as rapidly as Dubai. It has some tourist trade but much less than the surrounding emirates as it is totally dry. We visited the Arabian Wildlife Center, and I was surprised at the variety of wildlife that can live in a mostly desert area. There are of course fish in the seas and various reptiles, amphibians, and birds near the Wadi's (Oasises), but also quite a variety of mammals. We also stopped at the Maritime museum, with exhibits on the hard life of oyster harvesters and models of a wide variety of dhows.

 

Many of the people were off the ship pursuing activities in Dubai, while the entertainment for those who stayed behind enjoyed a repeat performance by the piano/cello duo William Burroughs and Neil Georgeson. I had just enough time to get to the performance after putting out my luggage.

 

Today's parting shot comes again from the quote quest series: "I owe all my success in life to always being a quarter of an hour before my time", attributed to Horatio Nelson.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

A very long day began with a very early departure from the ship. There was no delay as I walked off the ship just after 5 for a 5:30 bus to the airport. We did have a 20-minute wait for stragglers but arrived at the terminal just after 6 and checked in very quickly for my 9:25am BA flight. It is 7 1/2 hours to Heathrow and another 8 1/2 to Baltimore. I had a lucky surprise when I passed the boarding gate in Heathrow and the agent told me my boarding pass was invalid and replaced it with one for business class. It was almost exactly 24 hours from disembarking Queen Victoria until arriving home.

 

My final parting shot comes from the QV Quote Quest series, originally by William Gladstone: "We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace".

 

Roy