Resupplying the Queens for a Crossing

[Transatlantic Tom]

I've been curious for a long time about the process of resupplying the Queens, either in NY or Southampton, for a transatlantic crossing.

 

Are all the supplies, foods, wines, etc. stored days before at NYPST and Queen Elizabeth II Terminal before the ships arrive ??? Do they have refrigerated storage areas at these two facilities, or do perishable items arrive straightaway ???

 

Obviously, this is quite a logistics operation.

 

Any information on this topic would be welcome. Thanks.

 

Tom

[Druke I]

Can't speak with authority re Cunard and its provisioning, but Princess prepositions containers at various ports with required items, including perishables, which are in containers with their own refrigeration units.

 

Way back in 4-97, several containers did not make it to Osaka in time, and Sky Princess ran out of some veggies and dairy products crossing the Bering Straits. Upon arrival in Dutch Harbor, Aleutians, members of the Purser's Office and ship's galley "cleaned out" the local grocery store to reprovision the ship. It was a real kick to see them getting veggies etc, and the gleam in the shopkeeper's eye when the Purser pulled out a large roll of cash.

 

That incidentally, was a cold cruise. They had to close the outside decks for a couple of days, due to ice build-up!

[cunarder]

Tom,

 

I work for a company that supplies Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Our trucks

show up at the docks the morning the ships dock. That way we deliver the freshest products that they need.

 

I just got off Enchantment of the Seas in July and when we pulled in, there were 4 of our semis waiting to unload. It was nice to see for me.

 

Ed

[Transatlantic Tom]

Thanks to both of you !!

 

Ed - did your company run into any problems becuase of the power outage in the North East in August 2003 ??? My wife and I sailed on QE2 for Southampton on Sunday August 19, I think it was, the very weekend that the crisis was settling down and power was coming back up in NY...I was wondering -at the time- how that event might have impacted supplying QE2.

 

Tom

[Ab Ovo]

In New York City, if you park a car there on the roof, or can get on if the guards do not chase you away (I've done both, for both ships) you can walk along the roof and look over the side and see the gangways and conveyors. Luggage is going off some, supplies are going on others. As soon as the ship is tied up this begins, or when the ship is cleared and the passengers begin coming off. Often the "self-helps" are coming off after an hour.

 

Inside the street level of the pier, a vast space where from comes the crew and where few "civilians" are allowed, trucks are off-leaded; then, onto the ship! It all happens the day of arrival. I've been told the QE2 strives for, and usually does, a six hour turn-around. "Get 'em off, get 'em on!"

 

Quite busy, it is, when a Queen is in. An hour after a sailing, the whole place is like a tomb. They really do have it down.

[guernseyguy]

Its very different from the 'old days' with two day layovers in New York for the Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mary. Sail Wednesday evening, arrive Monday morning, sail the following Wednesday evening - no wonder the QE2 is clocking up the miles!

 

Peter

[cunarder]

Tom,

 

We are based in Binghamton, NY - that is our corporate headquarters and where we have 2 warehouses that supply the ships we service in NY. The trucks to supply the ships drive down from Binghamton that moring (about a 3 hour drive).

 

Not sure about the outage, I started working for them in December of 2003 (I am a Systems Analyst).

 

Ed

[mufi]

Gonna take longer when the oil runs out, all that coal to load.

 

David.

[Skippyyyy]

I did a stores tour once on QE2. Here's what I found out.

 

The forward hatch in the forecastle opens up and allows cranes to lower in supplies *through* the decks. ie. Each deck slides away to allow supplies to be lowered. When that 'deck' is full, the deck slides forward and that next level is filled. And so on. As these decks receive goods crew are unpacking the pallets and moving the goods to their respective stores.

 

There are seperate stores for many things. Eg. Flour store. Fresh fruit. Salad. Bananas are kept separate because they make things perish quicker. Fish, meat etc. The fruit and salad stores are large refrigerated rooms. This means that becuase there is air circulation, it's not like your fridge at home where produce is all stored in a confined space. The larger the space the longer the produce keeps for.

 

Adjacent to the meat and fish stores are the butchers and fishmonger. These are much as you'd find on land. Meat and fish as requested by the restaurants is taken from the store where it's all vacum packed and prepared by butchers and fishmongers before being sent up to the restaurants. When QE2 was first built meat carcases were loaded and you can still see the racks/hooks for this but because of health regulations they went out of use a long time ago.

 

What they take on for a transatlantic will (nearly) all be used up by the time they arrive the other side. Note. Fresh meat is precisely that. It's not frozen.

 

Slightly away from the stores - under the forecastle hatch is where they store all the drinks. Floor to ceiling with bottles. All that gets drunk by the time they arrive the other side.

 

In addition to fresh supplies, there is a supermarket where crew can go and get 'odds and ends' to take up to the restaurants. It's much as you'd see on land. You enter - pick up a basket and wander the aisles picking up whatever you need and then checkout.

 

Alcohol etc. Separate stores exist for wines. Spirits and toboacco have to be locked up in port. Some customers have their own wine supplies on board. We weren't told the names of theses guests, but they had a pretty impressive cellar.

 

Supplying the ship.

 

I've heard (somewhere else) that Carnival (and it's companies) has taken to provisioning it's ships directly from Miami. ie. It works out easier and cheaper to fly containers of provisions out to (say) Cape Town rather than go through the process of having local agents source goods. Also, owing to security, they are not keen to load pallets that they do not know are 100% 'ok'.

 

What I tried to find out was about refuelling. It interests me greatly how they choose to refuel where they do. I've never seen it occur in the UK. Plenty of times in the Canaries. Is this because of tax? In which country do they pay tax (if any)? Do they (Carnival) purchase via blanket orders 12/18 months ahead and call off as needed? One oil company or several?

What *is* QE2's fuel bill per year? I suspect that the answers to many of these are trade secrets. Nevertheless, there's been much talk of the costs associated with running any cruise ship/liner and one of the major costs is fuel. With the current oil price escalation, are we likely to see fuel surcharges applied?

 

Anybody know?

[PRINSENDAM]

Its very different from the 'old days' with two day layovers in New York for the Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mary. Sail Wednesday evening, arrive Monday morning, sail the following Wednesday evening - no wonder the QE2 is clocking up the miles!

 

Peter

 

 

In 1967 I joined the FRANCONIA in Bermuda as a Deck Boy. We sailed back for New York and then sat at the pier for FIVE days before starting the next cruise... a 21 day cruise to Quebec and Montreal for Expo '67.

 

FRANCONIA was deserted and the five day was spent doing routine maintainance, painting etc. My job during the layover was to assist the Deck Storekeeper in making a new set of 'dress ship' flags. We stretched a long 1/4" dia steel wire rope along the length of Prom Deck and then had to splice the ropes of each flag into the wire and then bind them tight with waxed twine. Four lines of flags were required... bow to mast top, mast to funnel and two from either side of the funnel down to the after deck.

 

One our last day in New York QUEEN ELIZABETH arrived and all six of FRANCONIA's deck boys went over for a look around... crew areas only!

 

Stephen

[Transatlantic Tom]

Thank you to everyone for contributing such wonderful bits of information on this topic !!

 

In particular, thanks to Pete/Skippyyyy. I really enjoyed reading what you submitted. Very very interesting.

 

Sadly, these days, if you made an general inquiry with Cunard on this subject they'd presumably suspect you of planning some evil act....when in reality, as a regular Cunard passenger and a ship lover, I simply find it to be a fascinating topic.

 

Thanks again to all - this is why I love the CC Boards, you ask a question and you get informative answers in response !

 

Tom:)

[Finch]

Tom: I went on the QE2 the same day as you, in Aug. '03, almost two years ago today. While my van slowly crawled towards the pier, I saw a number of food trucks coming up to the ship. That night at dinner, I asked my waiter about the food supply (such as meat) coming from an area that had an electricity blackout. I was told that supplies were called in to be delivered from non-effected areas. I was a little concerned about that, too!

[Transatlantic Tom]

Finch:

 

Thanks for your reply !! It's fun to touch base with someone from that particular crossing !!!

 

Lots of drama a day or two before boarding QE2, with the power blackout. I was terrified that the power would not come back, fast enough, to get the air traffic control system up and running at the NY area airports to allow us to fly in the day before (Saturday) to make the Sunday sailing. My wife, myself and a friend of ours were flying in from Minneapolis-St. Paul. We had booked this crossing almost a year before and were not going to miss the ship. We were prepared to drive non-stop from Minnesota to NY...probably about a 24-hour drive straight through !!

 

In any event, I do appreciate your information with regard to that specific time.

 

We stayed up on deck after sailing from NY, and after we passed under the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge a sudden and severe storm kicked in !! We were up forward, below the bridge, waiting to see the Sandy Hook Pilot boat come out to collect the pilot...alas heavy rains came...we hid under/behind the the starboard bridge wing. Were you up on deck for that ??? A very dramatic start to a fabulous crossing !!!

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[Finch]

No, I did not go out on deck when we left New York, except briefly, for that reason. I came back on the QE2 after three days in London, and came out in the pre-dawn to watch as she came under the bridge and past lower Manhatten at that time. It was rainy then, too!... I felt bad for people who came from a long distance to stay in New York for several days before she left for Southampton. They had hotels with no electricity... One German woman on the ship told me of her experience.. They used candles in the hotel... I wondered about the condition of the perishable foodstuffs they loaded in New York, as you did.

[Nitzi]

I did this in June4-19, 2005. Loved it. Went 2 days earlier to Venice--Stay at San Clemente Palace--a luxurious hotel. Private water taxi to St. Mark's Square. SAsk hotel for restaurant recomendations.We ate at Trattoria Al Sempione one night- a treasure.Do not stay at the Crowne Plaza-San Pietro in Rome rec. by Princess package. It is a dive in the middle of nowhere. Maybe a 2 star hotel. See my review on tripadvisor.com--Disgusto! Stay at

Marriott rec. by Princess package or book your own hotel in the center of Rome. Walk city Wall in Dubrovnick, Corfu(do your own thing, Mykonos--Delphi is a waste. Santorino take the tour, then find your own restaurant for lunch. Rhodes-take the tour. Athens take the city tour and Kusadashi tour Ephesue and tombs of St. John and Virgin Mary. In Athens a nice jewelry store is GA Jewels near the Platka. I got a bracelet there from George the owner and had it appraised for 2 times what I paid. Gorgeous but expensive stuff. Kusasashi in Turkey the shop keepers are very aggressive. my cousin and i got some nice leather jackets at Goldium leather. You have to bargain a lot. Also we visited a rug place. I got a nice one for my son. You have to bargain a lot! Who knows if I got a good deal. In Santorini, the shop keepers are also aggressive but I am from NY so I am a hard sell and know my prices. The boat was great, the food very good but not over the top. Sabatini's not woth it but you may want to try. Go early to Vatican City--long lines. Go to Pompeii. I've been there 2x before but my cousin never had. Have fun. Sit with other people every night--personal choice dining. Have a great time and hope this helped! Would do Princess again!