QM2 Eastbound Transatlantic, August 28, 2012

[rafinmd]

Good morning. I'm currently in New York, preparing to board QM2 over to Southampton. I'll be returning to New York a day later on the Crystal Symphony (and I know of about a dozen of us doing the same thing.

 

It's a somewhat dreary day here, but I hope things will improve for my intended walk to the ship. I'll be dual posting the QM2 portion of the trip here and on the Crystal forum. Pictures and other materials will also be on the companion blog http://crystalautumntrio.wordpress.com

 

Roy

[rolfecms]

Bon voyage, Roy!

 

Is there a way to sign up on your blog to get notified of your posts?

[capnpugwash]

Good morning. I'm currently in New York, preparing to board QM2 over to Southampton. I'll be returning to New York a day later on the Crystal Symphony (and I know of about a dozen of us doing the same thing.

 

It's a somewhat dreary day here, but I hope things will improve for my intended walk to the ship. I'll be dual posting the QM2 portion of the trip here and on the Crystal forum. Pictures and other materials will also be on the companion blog http://crystalautumntrio.wordpress.com

 

Roy

 

Have fun Roy.

[Cats2010]

Good morning. I'm currently in New York, preparing to board QM2 over to Southampton. I'll be returning to New York a day later on the Crystal Symphony (and I know of about a dozen of us doing the same thing.

 

It's a somewhat dreary day here, but I hope things will improve for my intended walk to the ship. I'll be dual posting the QM2 portion of the trip here and on the Crystal forum. Pictures and other materials will also be on the companion blog http://crystalautumntrio.wordpress.com

 

Roy

 

Hi,

How nice of you to share your voyage with us, thank you, and a big hug for Queen Mary 2! I wish I was on board; I'll have to wait until January next year.

 

Bon voyage!

[Cornus]

Thankfully, it's cleared off beautifully in NYC [and here on eastern LI]. The NY harbor webcam http://nyharborwebcam.com/ is presently focused on the QM2 and will probably stay that way until it sails later this afternoon. Five weeks from today and I'll be boarding :).

[jimpod]

Thanks for the link to the webcam - just looked and the ship is sailing by the Statue of Liberty. Very excited to see as we will be doing the same 13 weeks today.

[Thaxted]

Have a wonderful time on both legs of your journey, Roy.

[rgaudet]

Have fun Roy, I'm jealous!

 

I'm in London on business, getting ready to take the train to Heathrow to fly back to Canada. uhg! I wish there was regular ship service!! Instead of dreading the pain of air travel, I could be excited to board a ship for a week of relaxation. I took a look at the QM2 web cam just now...looks like you have a wonderful morning and day ahead of you!!

 

Rob

 

[rafinmd]

Thank you all. I'm having email trouble so updating the wordpress blog will be delayed.

 

The morning started rainy but the precipitation stopped falling by the time I left the hotel at 8:20. After crossing the Hudson and Harlem Rivers Monday, my goal was to walk to the ship including a crossing of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was an experience I am glad to have done once but I think it's pretty certain I will never repeat it. The total distance was about 6 miles with the bridge coming near the midpoint, and a couple of rest breaks, near South Street Seaport in Manhattan and Borough Hall in Brooklyn. The temperature was only 74F, but the humidity was quite high and I was sweating profusely. I considered terminating the walk at Borough Hall but chose to continue since the B61 bus ran parallel to my route and I could stop at any time. My first views of QM2 came early on my bride crossing with a wonderful view near the first tower. I arrived at QM2 a little after noon.

 

At noon my GPS showed 3077 Nautical miles to Dover, but that's straight line distance. The Voyage data shows 3144 miles to Southampton, and it's about another 104 to the Symphony in Dover.

 

Checkin went quite smoothly. As a World Club Platinum member I had priority checkin but the general checkin line also appeared to be quite short. I was onboard and in my cabin about 12:45. I was expecting the bag shipped by White Star Luggage to be in my cabin on arrival; it was not but arrived just a few minutes later, and after my walk a shower and fresh clothes were my top priority. The smaller (20 pound) bag that I had carried arrived about 1:20. After lunch in Kings court the business of unpacking went into high gear. My stewardess Mailia came by and introduced herself. I'm in an Atrium view cabin, an inside with a window looking out over the Pursers desk. It is low and midship.

 

Our muster drill came at 4:15. All muster areas are public rooms on deck 7, mine in Kings Court. In a first for me, even after a number of Cunard voyages, I was directed to a crew stairway to get to the station. We are often told that in an emergency areas normally crew only will be used; I was pleased that we had an opportunity to practice what we will actually do in an emergency. It appeared that most everybody was at the station within 2-3 minutes of the alarm sounding. We were instructed to carry, but not to wear, our life jackets, and practiced putting them on.

 

Sailaway seemed a bit late. We took up the first lines a little before 5, but did not actually leave the dock until about 5:15. We passed under the Verizzano Narrows Bridge just about 6. We actually had 4 meters clearance under the bridge although it looked closer to me. Captain Chris Wells and Entertainment Director Keith Maynard are both new to me.

 

I arrived at my 10 top in the Britannia Dining room about 6:10. A couple of our group were quite late, around 7. We have 2 priests and mostly solo travellers. One of the ladies is off to spend a year at graduate school in London. We have a mix of first time cruisers, people new to Cunard, and one lady with over 300 nights on Cunard. Dinner ran a bit long the first night and I got to the 7:45 welcome aboard show about 8. There was a number by the dance instructors, one song by the Queens Room Vocalist, and introductions of the senior staff. A bit tired, I was in bed about 10.

 

I'll cheat a bit on the parting shot. Since I'm quite late posting, I'll use a quote from Keith Maynard's morning show from Phyllis Diller: "A smile is a curve that sets everything straight". Phyllis, rest in peace and thank you for making us laugh all those years.

 

Roy

[Oahucruiser]

Wonderful to have another of your long and newsy notes to read each day. Enjoy both magnificent ships!!

[buckirj1]

Oh, goody! Roy's posting! Bon voyage, I'm looking forward to reading your reports.

[Scrapnana]

Thanks for sharing! I'm enjoying your posts and the "Daily Programme". How are you posting them? (I am not that computer savvy!)

[rafinmd]

Thank you, Rita, Oahacruiser, and Scrapnana.

 

Apparently, my email problems are intermittant, and the wordpress blog may be getting timely updates. It doesn't look like mail is getting through again today, so menus and Programmes may not be posted until the end of the cruise. When successful they will be posted at http://crystalautumntrio.wordpress.com first as posts and then under the Programs and menus tabs.

 

Tuesday's walk on top of the previous days turned out to be hard on my feet and I cut this morning's walk from the usual 5 miles down to 2. It's been rather windy but otherwise a beautiful day.

 

At the morning show Keith Maynard interviewed 2 of today's Cunard Insights presenters, Historian John Maxtone-Graham and Astronomer Andy Green. I also learned there that for this voyage we are adjusting the clocks daily (Thrus-Mon) at noon rather than overnight. I will appreciate having full night to sleep but had 2 Cruise Critic luncheons scheduled for 12:45 and 12:30 which will now be an hour later.

 

There was a full Cunard Insights program today with Andy Green speaking about "A tour of our own galactic neighborhood" at 10, John Maxtone-Graham on "Princes of Wales" at 11, and an afternoon presentation by Ambassador Walker "The 21st Century International Order" at 3:30.

 

I normally take lunch in Kings Court but today was attracted to the Britannia Restaurant by an inviting and enjoyable Canyon Ranch Chicken Kabob. British Immigration interviewed Deck 5 passengers, a very quick process to have out of the way for our arrival in Southampton. As of noon today we had 2773 Nautical miles remaining to Southampton and 2877 to Dover.

 

Our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was held at 2PM in the Commodore Club with about 20 present, a very lively afternoon that continued until the last of us left for the 3:30 lecture.

 

The Captain held his welcome cocktail party for Britannia passengers this evening. We have about 800 Americans and 1200 Brits among our 2500 passengers with the remainder from 31 various nations. Everyone looked wonderful for out formal night dinner; I had a delicious rack of pork. I learned from the priests that Cunard has apparently discontinued the policy of having priests on board for daily mass; they will fill in with a Sunday Mass.

 

This evening's entertainment was singer Jeri Sager who has had starring roles in Evita, Cats, and Les Miserables. I think this is the 3rd time I have heard Sager perform, I believe starting with the final QE2 crossing. It was also the night for the Black and White ball.

 

As a parting shot tonight I'll take my lead from Andy Green with his salute to Neil Armstrong, a brave explorer and class act. Rest in Peace, Neil, and thank you.

 

Roy

[imacruizer]

Roy, thanks so much for taking time to make daily posts from your voyage. I'm very envious that you have John M. Graham as one of your speakers. Very best wishes for an excellent crossing.

[Cats2010]

Thank you so much for your illustrative and enjoyable "daily report". It helps me bridging the time until I am back on my favourite ship!

:)

[safarigal]

:confused:Will they be permanently switching the time change to noon, or is it just for the EB crossings?

[capnpugwash]

:confused:Will they be permanently switching the time change to noon, or is it just for the EB crossings?

 

It is only for the EB crossings and as far as I am aware it is only Chris Wells who does it currently. He is ex P&O and it is a common practice on their ships. I'm not sure whether I like it or not to be honest, it seems that it should be better but I'm just not sure as I ended up just as tired on a TA recently.

[safarigal]

It is only for the EB crossings and as far as I am aware it is only Chris Wells who does it currently. He is ex P&O and it is a common practice on their ships. I'm not sure whether I like it or not to be honest, it seems that it should be better but I'm just not sure as I ended up just as tired on a TA recently.

 

Yes, I have mixed feelings about it too. Any way you look at it, you still have 23 hour days, and that has to be disruptive to your system. Still it's a whole lot better than the shock to the system after a transatlantic flight, especially from the US west coast.

[rafinmd]

Thanks, capnpugwash, safarigal, cats2010, and imacruiser. My impression is that this is a permanent change, at least for eastbound crossings, but I'm not really sure about that. We'll have to see what happens when another captain takes over.

 

Another beautiful morning. I walked about 1 1/2 laps on the promenade deck as the sun rose. We have cleared most land now and our course is more northerly, so the sun rose off the starboard bow rather than yesterday's port bow. I went on line early to get on while usage was lighter, then continued my walk. I'm still nursing my foot but increased my walk to 3 miles.

 

In the morning show Keith Maynard interviewed Music Historian Will Friedwald and one of the lead singers.

 

There were 2 Cunard Insights presentations. At 10 John Maxtone-Graham spoke on "Transatlantic Liners, The Only Way to Cross (Part III)" dealing mostly with the SS Normandie. He seemed quite annoyed that the bridge came on the PA with an emergency drill during his talk. At 11 Will Friedwald gave his first presentation "Stardust Melodies" perhaps subtitled "The Great American Songbook". His main point was that these songs were unique in being intended to be "templates", suitable for use by a variety of artists in a variety of genres.

 

At noon today we had 2278 Nautical Miles to go to Southampton and 2382 to Dover. Sea state was moderate (4-7ft), with light effective winds, partly cloudy with a temperature of 69F (20.5C). We will pass to the North of Titanic's resting place about 1AM

 

Cunard's afternoon teas are pretty much equivalent to Crystals, and head and shoulders above any others I've seen at sea. Unfortunately, I've yet to make one this voyage. Wednesday it was the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet running right up to the afternoon Cunard Insights presentation, and today we had a classical piano performance by Rustem Hayroudinoff actually leaving me arriving late for Andy Green's talk on "The Space Race -- The Way to the Moon?". Fortunately the Royal Court Theater is right next to Illuminations, making it easy to get from one event to the other. I did finally catch the start of Green’s lecture on TV just before bed.

 

The second Formal dinner was very nice, although 2 of our group was missing from the table. A beautiful full moon was shining out the dining room window as we enjoyed desert, and was shining beautiful from the promenade deck later at night. This evening's entertainment was one of the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers production shows, "Crazy in Love". This was done with a recorded sound track as the Royal Court Orchestra joined forces with the Queens Room band for the Big Band Ball, held in the Queens Room.

Today's parting shot comes from Will Friedwall's presentation. He introduced a very elderly and infirm gentleman as George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival. Although I believe the festival is now held in New York, having visited the wonderful town of Newport this past year on my favorite Baltimore based ship, Enchantment of the Seas, my favorite small ship, the Grand Caribe, and my favorite full sized ship, the Crystal Symphony, and with QM2 calling there regularly, I feel a real attachment to Newport. The effect the Festival has had on our culture dramatic. George, it's an honor to sail with you.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The day started out gray and rainy, a typical Atlantic day, which cleared up somewhat as the day progressed. With a still swollen toe I held my morning walk to 2 miles and spent some time with it immersed in the hot tub, as well as completing a load of laundry.

The Cunard Insights enrichment program was again active with presentations at 10 by Will Friedwald on "Sinatra! A singers art" and at 11 by Ambassador Walker on "The 21st Century International Order: The USA". I was amazed by how interconnected domestic and international affairs and impressed by Ambassador Walker's even handed treatment of the subject. That presentation was attended by the largest turnout I've encountered in Illuminations yet this voyage.

 

At noon (1PM) we were Nautical miles from 1793 Southampton, 1897 from Dover, in the area near where the Andrea Gael went down in the Perfect Storm. Hurricane Kate is moving slowly and 1000 miles away. It is 70F (21C) and moderate (4-7ft) seas.

 

We held a 1:45 Cruise Critic group luncheon in the Britannia Dining Room. 8 of us were present. The lunch ran about 80 minutes but it seemed to me more like 30. The lost hour and lengthy lunch meant that I missed afternoon tea yet another time.

 

As we were finishing lunch the team from RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) was performing works from Canterbury tales in the Royal Court Theater. Too much to do and not enough time. Today's Cunard Insights activities ended with a presentation by John Maxtone-Graham with a presentation mainly on the Normandie and the France.

 

Pianist Rastem Hayroudinoff gave an early evening performance in Illuminations followed by a Royal Court Theater performance by singer and Ventriloquist Michael Minor.

 

Today’s parting shot: Hurricane Isaac has left Louisiana leaving a soggy mess behind but not the massive devestation of Katrina. May the people there have a swift and effective return to normal.

 

Roy

[imacruizer]

Roy, I am thoroughly enjoying your daily posts. It seems you have outstanding speakers and lovely concerts. And people often ask if one gets bored on a crossing!!! I hope you get to tea at least once on this voyage.

[rafinmd]

Thank you, Beth. I FINALLY did get to tea yesterday and hope to again the remainder of the voyage.

 

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago about teenagers on QM2. I did learn today that there is a minimum age of 18 for enrollment in Canyon Ranch Spa classes.

 

When I awoke and went out on deck there were clouds but a beautiful full moon was prominent above the stern of the ship. A large sun appeared over the bow close to 6AM. I held my morning walk to 2 miles again and then spent some time immersed in the jacuzzi, but did walk another mile after lunch. I am hopefully my foot will be back to normal soon, but if not will really appreciate my own bathtub on the Symphony. At his morning show Keith Maynard interviewed the employee of the month and this evening's headline entertainer.

 

Today's Cunard Insights program continued in fine form. The morning presentations were Ambassador Walker on China, and John Maxtone-Graham on "Titanic Tragedy".

 

As of noon today, we were 1838 Nautical miles from New York, more than halfway with 1278 remaining to Southampton and 1382 to Dover. It is a warm, sunny day, very nice but not quite good enough for a rare opening of the Boardwalk Cafe. The tables are out but the serving doors are locked. Seas are still 4-7 feet, a minimal roll, and a moderate wind across the deck.

 

Rustem Hayroudinoff gave his third and final classical Piano performance at 3 in the Royal Court theater. I finally got to spend a few minutes at the afternoon tea before dropping in on Andy Green's presentation "What is a star, how will it live and then die". He started at 3:30 and I arrived about 4 but should be able to catch most of what I missed on a TV rerun.

 

Tonight was the second and final Semi-Formal night. It would appear I was to be the only one at my table and Satek was considering relocating my to an occupied table when the 2 priests appeared about 6:20, They had been performing a Mass which ended at 6 and were delayed as they packed up the items used in the Mass. A 4th person showed up about 7 after forgetting to adjust his watch.

 

The World Club party was held in the Queens Room between seating. Captain Wells read quite an amusing diary entry about the horrible conditions a passenger reported in the 1880's. We have 486 gold members, 177 platinum (Including me), and 59 Diamond members. One lady was recognized for nearly 3000 nights on Cunard.

 

This evening's headline show was Craig Dahn, a pianist in the Las Vegas showman style playing "Bach, Broadway, Boogie, and Beyond". The opening selection was announced initially as selections from “Phantom of the Opera” and later by Dahn as Bach’s Toccata in D. I had missed that familiar connection under the underlying beat of the piece, and went back to the start of the 10:45 show to hear it again. Once I realized what I was listening to it was a very intriguing piece. Quite a change from Rustem Hayroudinoff but I found both very enjoyable.

 

My time on QM2 is rapidly drawing to a conclusion. As today's parting shot I am looking at the itinerary of the Crystal Symphony as I make my way to a rendezvous. The Symphony's port of call for tomorrow (9/2) is a bit nostalgic. My first ever port of call away from North America was Waterford, Ireland from the Crystal Symphony, where the Symphony will be tomorrow. May all the people stopping there have a wonderful day, and savor your remaining time on the ship. Much as I will savor my remaining days on QM2, I eagerly await my chance to take your place.

 

Roy

[rgaudet]

Hi Roy. Enjoying your posts and photos on your blog. Curious how you like the atrium-view stateroom. Do you get any noise from below? I think it would be nice to have some light in the room.

 

Rob

[lannp]

Thank you for taking the time to post. I board the ship in just over 4 weeks and the excitement is building. You have proven as I tell people that on a crossing there are so many activities that it can sometimes by hard to see and do everything that interests you.

Linda

[rafinmd]

Thank you Rob and lannp. Rob, I've had no disturbance at all in my cabin. There's controversy over whether it's worth the extra cost for a window without a real view, but it's worked for me.

 

The day started with what Captain Wells described at the opening of the worship service as a "Normal day in the North Atlantic, blustery, gray, and foggy". It was actually clear but somewhat windy when I first walked out on deck, but almost totally fogged in by 8:00. As yesterday I started my walk early through sunrise, then went online and watching the morning show before resuming my walk. I had planned to walk 3 miles today, but as the morning went on felt clear to complete my customary 5 miles. My foot still called for my soak in the spa, but not bad enough to inhibit the pleasure of the walk.

 

There was only one Cunard Insights program this morning with Will Friedwald speaking at 10 on "Tony Bennett--The Good Life. Having seen Tony Bennett perform perhaps 10 years ago with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, I felt quite connected to this talk. At 11 Captain Wells conducted the interdenominational worship service in the Royal Court Theater, with perhaps 150 people present.

 

At noon Captain Wells reported we had travelled 505 Nautical miles today, 2347 since New York, with 801 Nautical miles remaining to Southampton and 905 to Dover. The temperature was about 60F and with still moderate (4-7ft) seas. At 50 degrees 28 minutes we were at the northernmost point of our great circle arc.

 

At 1:30 (30 minutes past noon on our reset clocks) 7 of us met for lunch in the Todd English. The luncheon was primarily for people continuing on to the Crystal Symphony. Joining me were Bob and Judy (jdymiller), Larry and Monica (Roland4), Michelle (jadesmomva) with her mother Ronnie. Michelle is flying home for work commitments but Ronnie is returning on the Symphony. We had a wonderful lunch, breaking up just in time for the 3:30 Cunard Insights presentation by Ambassador Walker on "21st Century Conflict and Cooperation Issues that will keep diplomats awake at night". I dropped by after the lecture for Afternoon tea (tea only, I was still not ready for more food after Todd English).

 

When I returned from the last formal dinner, the dreaded disembarkation packet was waiting on my bed. While I am pleased to be landing only 104 miles from Dover, my sadness on leaving QM2 will be greatly reduced, but not gone. Besides starting to pack, the evening included a senior officers party for World Club platinum and higher members, and Appasionata. This production show features primarily dancing including a lot of ballroom style intricate choreography.

 

Today's parting shot derives from the traditional closing hymn at their interdenominational services, "Eternal Father Strong to Save":

 

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Whose arm hath bound the restless wave

Who biddest the mighty ocean deep

It's own appointed limits keep

Oh hear us when we cry to thee

For those in peril on the sea

 

Roy