LIVE: Queen Mary 2 M031 'Taste of France'

[northernsailor]

Hi everyone.

 

Currently sat in the Ocean Terminal awaiting checkin... Although not here as Artemis is in our berth! QM2 is at the old QE2 terminal this morning instead. I assume down to the high winds in the Solent area overnight.

 

Parking was a bit of a nightmare with the dock security telling us to go to the QE2 terminal only for us to be told to go back to the Ocean terminal and park there. We self-parked and then wandered to the terminal when finally the 3rd member of staff told us we'd need to take all our luggage upstairs and sit and wait for further instructions. So.. Here we are.. Waiting!

 

Chris

[Ray66]

Where are Artemis's passengers being processed? And how are you going to get from the Ocean terminal to the QE2 terminal?

[northernsailor]

No one is checking in for Artemis it appears and it's not on the Southampton VTS site - is she off to dry dock soon perhaps? Although i have seen the odd person wandering around her promenade deck. Was she due to sail yesterday? The P&O site doesn't like my iPad so i can't check!

 

We're being called with boarding cards to the security end of the ocean terminal and then boarding buses to the qe2 terminal to complete checkin I. It's not going very fast, not surprising really :/ All the checkin desks are unmanned in here.

 

Chris

[Ray66]

I've just taken a look at the P&O forum and someone says:

 

"Was just dropping car off at garage and can see in ocean terminal we have Artemis. I saw her in dock yesterday at mayflower terminal. Guess the bad weather we have has made p and o play the safe card again."

 

Another:

 

"Artemis delay is weather related. Now expected to sail at 3pm today. Shipping forecast is "violent storm force 11" in Fitzroy today which is close to where Artemis would have been had she left yesterday."

[northernsailor]

Thanks Ray. It's getting busier and busier here. All those arriving for queens or princess Grills are getting the priority boarding as usual which is fine in normal circumstances but today Britannia passengers are being made to really wait it out. They've not even called the first of them yet and we've been here approx 2hrs nearly.. Roll on the Platinum Cunard World Club status next year!

 

Chris

[northernsailor]

Well we got on about 1.5hrs ago, had a bite to eat in the Kings Court and grabbed a drink from the pub. Now back in our cabin. The Commodore just announced we've still not fully embarked everyone and therefore we'd be doing the lifeboat drills at 5pm instead of 4pm and sailing at 6pm. As we speak, Artemis is just leaving her berth. I assume we'll miss QE's sail away :(

 

Chris

[Ray66]

What time is the QE leaving? Maybe she will be late too. Got my eye on the AIS page now.

[northernsailor]

1630 according to Southampton VTS?

[Ray66]

It looks like Independence of the Seas is leaving first so maybe your life drill will have finished by the time the QE leaves.

[Ray66]

The QE is just leaving now as I write at 5.27pm.

[Ray66]

Seems like she went past you at about 6.10pm so you will have got a good view (unless you were on early seating).

[northernsailor]

Hi Ray,

 

We managed to get out on deck and watched the QE sail past before our sail away. The Commodore announced she'd be passing and we'd sound our whistle and say hello to her - that happened and she sounded hers back (I have a good video of it all, pretty much like the video I did of her maiden sail away)

 

Back in the cabin now (via the Commodore Club - looks likeI missed the meeting :( )

 

I opted for grade AA to try out the Club Balcony dining / cabin.. So can eat between 1830 and 2100..

 

Chris

[AAAAmerican]

Thanks for posting it is always way refreshing to see live well done posts!:cool:

 

 

[Ray66]

(I have a good video of it all, pretty much like the video I did of her maiden sail away)

 

Good, I look forward to it. In the meantime, The QM2 from the QE webcam (with the hour already changed)

 

 

and the QE from the QM2 webcam

 

[northernsailor]

Good morning.

 

Last night We went down to the Club Britannia restaurant which is located on the Port side at the back of the Britannia restaurant on the lower level (Deck 2). We had already been assigned a table and when we arrived at 8.15 two other couples were sat there with menus in front of them, they had been there about 20 mins. Two nice couples who were equally confused as us about the open anytime dining when you have others on your table, not sure how it works - people could arrive just as your main courses get delivered? Either way we all ordered together on this occasion and talked cruises. Neither couple had been on QM2 before (like us) but both had previously been on Queen Victoria and both had already booked cruises on Queen Elizabeth for next year. We talked about the delays on boarding yesterday and the common theme we all found on QM2 - so many dead ends? (compared to QV at least). I choose from part set menu and part a la carte, was good service and it's nice and quiet in the Club area. Less traffic.

 

After our meal we popped our heads into the theatre to see the show, I'd guess it was about 50% full. Then we headed to the Commodore Club which was pretty busy and only had a few seats left at the bar. After a couple of Mojitos we went and had a cigar in Churchills which was empty. Headed back to the cabin about 1am then realised it was 2am with the added hour.

[FIRELT5]

It does appear that the QM2 departed in time heading back to Southhampton ????

[laktex]

Well all safe and sound back in Southampton and lovely sunny day. I slept well but my wife said it was a bit choppy during the night.

 

Enjoyable two days.

 

Todd English was extremely good - it was great service and an excellent meal. The lamb porterhouse was a superb cut of meat and my wife said her beef tenderloin was similarly excellent.

 

Just wish I was staying on for NY.

 

Trevor

[new to cuising]

Thanks for the update. Had same feelings as you when we recently disembarked. It doesn't matter how long you book for - it's never long enough !

[northernsailor]

We arrived in Cherbourg early Tuesday morning, around 7am. The QM2 turned around so we were facing out of the harbour ready to leave in the evening, so we ended up at berth Port side.

 

After a nice breakfast in the Britannia Club restaurant, we went for a wander around the ship to see what was on. As expected, not much on a two night cruise. There was 3 showings of the A-Team in the Planetarium but no actual shows in there and there were no real daytime activities other than the usual stuff (Friends of Bill W, etc) - all of the shops were closed as it was a Port day, which to be honest on a two night cruise makes shopping a little difficult (shops were open from sailaway on Monday (which was 6) and from sailaway on Tuesday - again 6pm, and that's it!)

 

The weather looked at best 'unsettled' from the ship so we didn't venture into town and instead went around the Aquarium and the Submarine next door. The museum, though prominently in French does have English under most titles/signs. The museum also offers a discount if you show your Cunard boarding card, a nice touch considering a ship that could contain over 2,500 people arrived on a wet, cold November day - they could easily have the captive market.

 

The tour itself, whilst unguided should take around 4hrs. Unfortunately, we only had 2hrs spare as we had an appointment at 3pm back on the ship (more of that later). The museum lets you follow through all the original methods of deep sea diving, from past to present day and has a number of submersibles for you to look at. The aquarium part is beautiful, everything is so clean and well presented - very impressive. I have taken a fair few photos and will link them to this post later on. We then headed to the submarine exhibition. The submarine 'La Redoutable' was the first of the French Nuclear submarines and is now the largest one on public display in the world.

 

Just before you enter, they give you one of those handheld audioguides to listen to as you walk around the submarine. To start, you enter via the stern and walk your way through the insides of the sub whilst listening to an explanation of each compartment. This self-guided tour lasts around 30-45mins and I really recommend it, it was not only very interesting, but well put together too (I have been on other sub tours previous and this is the best in my opinion)

 

After the sub tour you go through some more of the musuem where they tell you how submarines work, radar, ballast, etc and you can play on a submarine simulator. We finished up there and headed back to the ship (stopping off to take a few photos of her exterior first) and then to the Britannia Club for lunch.. (can't seem to keep out of there it seems!)

 

At 3pm, we met with a Deck Officer from the QM2 who gave us a private tour of her bridge. This lasted about 1hr15mins and gave us a real insight into just how technical she really is and what it takes to get her from A to B - there are a lot of lights and buttons up there! After the tour we had a little wander around the ship and went to book another cruise, but unfortunately the queue was absolutely massive. More annoying though is all the signage says the Voyage Sales Office is on Deck 3, when actually it was moved ages ago to Deck 2 by the entrance to the Royal Court Theatre - Come on Cunard, update your signage!

 

I will post the final part of the cruise shortly.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[Ray66]

I'm glad somebody enjoyed this short voyage.

 

When we went to Cherbourg we saw the museum with the submarine outside but didn't venture in because we thought it rather expensive and didn't know there was discount for the ship's passengers. It sounds good from your description. Maybe next time.

 

Lucky you having a private tour of the bridge. We've only seen it by walking along behind the glass.

 

I imagine sthe shops were very busy if they were only open for 4 hours twice.