Live from the 2015 QE World Voyage

[Ray66]

I've also noticed price increases for some shore excursions in my Voyage Personaliser about a week or two before the cruise.

[alibabacruisers]

Good morning all!

 

I am posting this on Thursday and am feeling a bit sad as a code alpha was called about a half an hour ago so am praying for those persons involved.

 

Kathi, yes I liked the songs in Hotel Royale too! I like musicals usually anyway. Oh, good I will have to look up that movie now...Heaven and Earth..thanks!

 

Louise, as John said we haven't heard anything about a delay but if I am near

the Purser's Desk this morning I will check. I hope we don't miss any more ports. I know most did not miss Nassau, but I really wanted to go there to see it.

 

Carolyn & Dick, thanks for your contributing blog! I like reading the differing ways people write and their different experiences and points of view.

 

Carolian, I noticed while reading last years blogs the prices increased slightly, and on this one I have noticed the same. The price did increase between the time we booked and the time of the excursion usually only $2-6. While onboard I have not seen any additional increases, but they haven't shown the Petra choices in the DP yet.

 

Salacia, thank you for the suggestion regarding Ginger Ale! We bought some in FLL and have used them sporadically and they do seem to help sometimes. A few years ago I even tried the nasty tasting crystallized ginger in the DR..sorry but that was not very nice :( Yesterday's experiment with leaving the balcony door opened showed me that fresh air seems to help a lot!

 

Hi John, yes we certainly were "flying" thru the water yesterday! Fitting in the nap...Ali has figured he can fit his in during the lectures...lol. Me? I found myself catching a few ZZZ's while trying to read...LMAO.

 

Onto the blog ....

 

Wednesday, 11 Feb

 

After a good night's rest, and in anticipation of the rough seas ahead, we

got to the Lido early at 5:45am. We had a coffee and waited until they

opened the breakfast line at 6:30. There were fewer people than usual here

this morning.

 

At the moment, it is still relatively calm at 3.5 meters waves, and the wind

is at 53 mph. I tried an experiment last night to see if it might help with

the nausea...leaving the balcony door open just a crack for fresh air. It

seemed to help overnight, so I will try it during the day today.

 

Watched a little NCIS until the first lecture at 10 on Pago, Pago. There is

quite a crowd at these port presentations which is good to see. When it was

over, we met two CC couples and had a mini M&G...what fun to catch up! Now

DH is heading to the paddle tennis competition while I go for my pasta meal for

the day in the Lido. I like it that the Lido is open early at 11:30 for lunch

especially since I eat the early breakfast.

 

Now in the cabin, alternating between reading and watching TV. The noon

announcement has assured us that tomorrow's weather will be yet warmer at

around 24C and the seas a bit calmer. I sat out on the balcony for a short

while watching the water swirl around the base of the ship and it was a

pretty dark blue. It is still a bit windy and overcast and no rain. It is nice

to just enjoy just sitting sometimes. DH went to the golf competition and

then will try table tennis aka ping pong. I am glad he is finally really

getting into a routine with the sports and I think it has surprised him that

he is enjoying it so much.

 

Tonight is a formal night again with the Masquerade Ball in the Queens Room at

9:15. They are having mask sales up until 4 in case anyone forgot to bring one

or they decide to try the experience.

 

For dinner tonight I decided to test the off the menu item, steak. The steak

arrived as I requested and was quite good. We also requested a baked potato,

which we haven't had yet. For the last week or so we have noticed that the

formed butter shapes have been replaced with the prepackaged variety and I

have to remember to ask the waiter why. The latter is hard to spread when it

is cold and hard. I skipped dessert tonight as nothing appealed, by DH had

the vanilla souffle which he said was pretty good.

 

Off to take a short walk before returning to the cabin for the night.

[alibabacruisers]

Forgot to pass on that on the TV Port Presentation on Honolulu, Gavin, the Tour Guy, said that we would be docking at Pier 2 instead of Aloha Tower. But with the DP, they have included (a day earlier) the insert Port of Call info and on that it shows us at Pier 10/11. I guess we will have to wait and see now.

[sydneylou]

Thanks to all for your info, and to Alibabacruisers for the info on change of pier. We haven't heard any more from Cunard. The cruise tracker website has her docking on time, so we will see.

I don't seem to be able to log onto my cruise personaliser on Cunard, I am using my I-pad, it cones up with some strange message. I will call Cunard this afternoon if we don't here from them before. I have been interested in reading all your blogs, keeping me entertained.

[Janix]

12th Feb, 0900 Ships Time

 

A further update on our progress. Another bumpy night, and we have 500 miles to cover to arrive at the scheduled time of 0900 tomorrow the 13th February. We slowed a little during the night to 18 knots, but have now increased speed up to 20 knots once again. We gain one hour again tonight as the ships clocks are put back once again which will make us UTC -10.

 

So providing there is no further reduction in speed, we should make it to Honolulu roughly on time. My software is showing a time to go of circa 24 hours and the ships information channel is showing an arrival time of 0800 (although I suspect that may just be entered according to the schedule?).

 

We are currently 1748 miles from San Francisco on a heading of 258 degrees, large seas with 3.5 metre waves and a current wind speeds of F7/8.

 

Now at 23.15N 149.21W

 

Is it time for the Hawaiian shirts to be taken out of mothballs ? :D:eek:

 

John

[Oahucruiser]

On the Honolulu harbor website it says that you will be docking at pier 2 which is a long block from the Aloha Tower pier. There is a lot of construction going on at Aloha Tower so most cruise ships have been allocated to pier 2 for this year. Too bad as Aloha Tower is much more attractive.

[sydneylou]

We have called the port authority and they said you were docking at the clock tower and also said arrival time to be 1300 hours, so that would be about 4 hours late. We will call again later today or in the morning as we need to arrive at the correct pier. I assume our boarding time won't be until late afternoon if she docks at 1pm. Janix I am hoping your software is more accurate than the info we just got.

Quite overcast here this morning but expecting it to "burn" off soon also the wind has completely dropped off.

[alibabacruisers]

Ten minutes ago the Captain has updated us on our track to HNL. It seems

that with the rough seas and slowing speeds, he has decided to overnight in Honolulu (13-14 Feb), push Lahaina until the next day (15 Feb), while Pago, Pago date (20 Feb) remains unchanged at this point. Most seem happy about overnighting in HNL. At least we are not missing any ports at this time.

Edited February 12, 2015 by alibabacruisers

[Salacia]

Ten minutes ago the Captain has updated us on our track to HNL. It seems

that with the rough seas and slowing speeds, he has decided to overnight in Honolulu (13-14 Feb), push Lahaina until the next day (15 Feb), while Pago, Pago date (20 Feb) remains unchanged at this point. Most seem happy about overnighting in HNL. At least we are not missing any ports at this time.

 

Barbara, that sounds nice, especially since you won't be missing any ports and no doubt a few more hours on terra firma in Hawaii on Valentines Day will be welcomed by many :)

 

Looking out my window at snow falling, I'd sure like to be in Hawaii too :)

 

Thanks for the update. Cheers, -S.

[Janix]

Well wouldn’t you know it, we have just been told of a change in plans.

 

We have been told that owing to the weather, we will arrive later in Honolulu, around 12 noon and we will be now overnighting in Honolulu leaving at 6pm Saturday, with Lahaina therefore on Sunday. They then hope to make the time up on the following sea days and be back on track by Pago Pago – or will there be too much swell in LaHaina, which is a tender port ? That would also allow us to make up time ?

 

John

[MicCanberra]

I think that is a great solution rather than only having 1/2 a day in Honolulu, Hope everything goes well.:D

[Oahucruiser]

How nice! A day and a half in Honolulu and maybe a night on the town and you still get to go to Lahaina. The captain had a great idea.

[Scrapnana]

Well wouldn’t you know it, we have just been told of a change in plans.

 

We have been told that owing to the weather, we will arrive later in Honolulu, around 12 noon and we will be now overnighting in Honolulu leaving at 6pm Saturday, with Lahaina therefore on Sunday. They then hope to make the time up on the following sea days and be back on track by Pago Pago – or will there be too much swell in LaHaina, which is a tender port ? That would also allow us to make up time ?

 

John

 

Yikes! Another change! Although spending the night in Honolulu sounds great.

 

Bet Captain Clark is ready for his time off!

Edited February 13, 2015 by Scrapnana

[sydneylou]

Sounds like a great plan, an overnight in Honolulu gives everyone a chance to spend more time in this wonderful destination I think it will be busy being Valentines Weekend, so glad we don't have to find accommodation for Friday night now, not sure when we can embark, I will give Cunard a call and check with them. Thanks everyone for the updates sure has been helpful.

[Oahucruiser]

Sydneylou, When we have embarked here in Honolulu and the arrival time was around 8:00 a.m., we got to the ship at about 9:30 and they let us get right on. You should have no problem if you get there shortly after she arrives.

[sydneylou]

I called Cunard and they want us to meet at the Sheraton at 11am for lunch and beverages and then we will get updates from there and they will transfer us to the terminal from the hotel. It is nice that they are taking care of us, I can cope spending a leisurely lunch at the Sheraton.

[sydneylou]

They also said the ship will be about 4 hours late

[Oahucruiser]

I called Cunard and they want us to meet at the Sheraton at 11am for lunch and beverages and then we will get updates from there and they will transfer us to the terminal from the hotel. It is nice that they are taking care of us, I can cope spending a leisurely lunch at the Sheraton.

 

How wonderful for you - an oceanfront luncheon and you get a free ride to the ship afterward. They have really been good to you. ~ I am glad to know that the ship will be about 4 hours late or we might have gone down too early. We can see the ships arriving from our lanai and will drive 8 minutes down to the pier (whichever pier she comes in on).

 

We'll be on her again this summer so we are really enjoying all the detailed posts from those on board.

[alibabacruisers]

Thursday, 12 Feb

 

At breakfast this morning we saw the usual complement of familiar faces,

although a bit fewer today. Afterwards, we had returned to our cabin to hear

a cold Alpha called around 7:20 and I hope that whoever is involved is ok.

 

Copied and pasted yesterdays blog. Carolian had asked about the prices of

excursions increasing so I thought I would compare the shore excursion booklet

with the flyer that they delivered to our staterooms a few days ago. I checked

every excursion from HNL to SYD (those are the excursions that were incuded

on the flyer). EVERY one was increased, first of all. And the range was actually

$1 to $13. But there were also a few that have been sold out too. We have

found that if it is something you really have your heart set on, then book it

then. If you are firmly undecided, then you have to ask yourself if you would

be disappointed if it was sold out? Sometimes it can be good to wait until

onboard because you meet people who have other suggestions, and you get a

better feel for one choice versus another.

 

This brings up another point that I have encountered this cruise. Because I

set up a couple of private excursions and the M&G I actually saw this. As you

know the process on CC of roll calls, etc. I won't detail that. But once I

was at the M&G, I saw people, who were not CC members, or they said they were

members but never signed up on the roll call, they would come in strictly to

ask about any private excursions that we had set up...were there any openings,

etc. At first I wasn't sure how I felt, but the more it happened the more I

became suspicous. I am starting to see a pattern...people that come on many

cruises and do this very thing every time. What do you guys feel about that?

 

While working on the blog, the couples that start their morning on their

balconies, have begun their day. Guess they don't realize that they can be

heard.

 

Thought I would go read for a bit before I have to make a choice of what to

do at 10:00. The choice is between the Port Presentation for Pago, Pago, the

trivia quiz, and a class billed as "Tenerife Lace Making/Chicken Scratching".

At 10:00, I finaly decided on the class to see what it was about and it turned

out to be a bit like cross-stitching. It was presented by a fellow passenger

and will have follow-up sessions to be announced. It was during this class

that the Captain interrupted with an important announcement. He was explaining

that since we left SFO we had had to deal with the stormy conditions, and he

had to adjust his speed ever since, speeding up and slowing down. With all of

that in mind, he has made the decision to overnight in HNL (13-14 Feb),

pushing Lahaina to the 15th Feb, and Pago, Pago will remain unchanged on the

20 Feb. I had to smile...because of CC I already had an inkling that something

was in the pipeline. Thanks Louise!

 

After the class I hurried back to the cabin to hopefully meet up with the DH.

That was not meant to be. We had discussed possibly meeting up at the Golden

Lion at 11:15 for the darts competition, but he was not there. So I spent the

next hour alternating between calling the cabin, walking several lengths of this

ship to track him down....needed a bloodhound...lol. Finally found him at 1pm

in the cabin, where we discussed all the activities of the morning.

 

I had stopped by the onboard shop to purchase some sort of candy bars, as I was

having a craving and talked to the shop lady. It was fnny because she asked

if I was buying the candy for the afternoon movie, to which I told her no. She

said people had been in all morning buying stuff for the movie. I laughed and

told her we bought microwave popcorn at Walmart in FLL and will take that. She

said she loves to do that almost everyday! I told her that they needed to

include that option onboard and they could make some more money...we just

laughed. The movie today is a recent one called Lucy, with Morgan Freeman and

Scarlett Johanssen and it sounds promising so we may take the popcorn and go

at a bit before 3pm. The theater was pretty crowded for the movie when we got

there so everyone must have wanted to see it. It was a thought-provoking

movie, I thought...maybe 4 stars. There were a few people who clearly did

not appreciate it and left in the first 15 minutes.

 

We decided to go to the Lido for an early dinner and make it an early night in

preparation for our next few days in Hawaii. The Captain is going along at

16 knots now with the waves at 3.5 meters the TV says, and the winds have

died down quite a bit from this morning at 10mph, and the temp of 23C.

 

Well, we'll play a bit of backgammon, watch some TV and read before drifting

off to sleep. Night all!

[sydneylou]

I can see you guys you are sailing past Waikiki Beach, can't wait to join you....see you soon

[babs135]

Alibabcruisers, you mentioned a microwave. Where are they on the ship?

[Oahucruiser]

Just watched the beauty sail into Honolulu at 10:30 - - earlier than the 12 noon time that was predicted. I feel sorry for the shore excursion team that has to reschedule tours for today, add tours for tomorrow and also reschedule them for a day later in Lahaina, Maui.

[Scrapnana]

I feel sorry for the shore excursion team that has to reschedule tours for today, add tours for tomorrow and also reschedule them for a day later in Lahaina, Maui.

 

They must be getting used to it - they had to do it in New York and Fort Lauderdale and cancel/refund all the Nassau ones.:eek:

[MicCanberra]

They must be getting used to it - they had to do it in New York and Fort Lauderdale and cancel/refund all the Nassau ones.:eek:

 

They will be very practiced at it, although having all the passengers being stressed or angry would make it much harder.

[Underwatr]

Lahaina can be a problematic port. When QV called in 2012 the Harbormaster only allowed one tender past the breakwater at a time which resulted in very long waits for to get ashore. We ended up staying aboard enjoying the view from our balcony.