Queen Mary 2 Sydney to New York, March 6 to April 25, 2020

[exlondoner]

23 minutes ago, IB2 said:

What a waste of his time.

 

Why?

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

 

Well, he has certainly conducted the Sunday non-denominational service when I've been aboard, with the usual hymns and prayers.

I'll second that.  From my crossing last fall:

 

On 10/21/2019 at 9:28 AM, rafinmd said:

I'll take today's parting shot from the interdenominational worship service.  Cunard tradition on Sundays at sea is for the Captain to lead a service based largely on the Anglican Liturgy.  Cunard captains are not ordained and the service generally does not include a sermon.  What there is is 2 "lessons".  The first was a biblical passage from Jeremiah read by a Deck Cadet from the bridge.  The second lesson was more personal by Captain Hashmi.  He noted that we will pass the remains of Titanic this evening and that on the westbound crossing he had spoken of the heroes of the Titanic including the 2 chaplains who had given comfort to passengers right up the end even though they also faced imminent death.  Today he turned to the other side.  While Titanic had far fewer lifeboats than needed the lifeboats that were launched were far from capacity, and only 4 of 22 made any effort once launched to pick up any freezing swimmers begging for help.  If they had made that effort about another 400 people could have been saved.  Nice history.  Hashmi then went on to say that he has fielded questions like "If you encountered a group of refugees stranded in the Mediterranean what would you do?"  He reported many are stunned when he answers "Of Course, I would pick them up".  That answer technically is required, as it is his legal obligation under Maritime Law and the SOLAS code.  He continued to stress that it is not only his legal duty but also his human and Christian duty to show compassion not to "refugees", migrants" or whatever but to fellow human beings.  He is required to say "Of Course" but going beyond that to explain his view in human, compassionate, eloquent, and Christian terms just far elevated his standing in my view.  Well done.

Roy

Captain Hashmi may follow Islam but his values reflect the best traditions of Christianity.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Queen Mary 2 approaching Tenerife and looks like she might be holding for a pilot.  I hope this is a refueling stop and not a medical emergency, although Captain Hashmi had it said requests for medical assistance would likely be refused.

 

Roy

[North West Newbie]

9 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Queen Mary 2 approaching Tenerife and looks like she might be holding for a pilot.  I hope this is a refueling stop and not a medical emergency, although Captain Hashmi had it said requests for medical assistance would likely be refused.

 

Roy

 

According to bluemarble on the other thread, QM2 is calling at Tenerife to disembark some guests who reside there. 

[rafinmd]

9 minutes ago, North West Newbie said:

 

According to bluemarble on the other thread, QM2 is calling at Tenerife to disembark some guests who reside there. 

Must have sent them in on a tender.

 

Roy

[bluemarble]

Yeah, there was a facebook post earlier today mentioning a planned stop at Tenerife to disembark guests and now a follow-up post a few minutes ago with a photo showing a small boat along side. She appears to be back on her way now.

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 passed what should have been her final port of call, Funchal, about 4PM London time and is currently far off the coast of southern Portugal.  I think she started with 264 passengers and dropped 2 as planned in Tenerife, and 2 more Medivacs, one each after leaving Durban and Tenerife.  I think her current passenger count then should be 260, finally on the home stretch.

 

I am sure it was a very strange Easter on board but it's been a strange Easter everywhere.

 

Roy

[Tony & Trevor]

He follows the Anglican BCP. We have always enjoyed his services very much.

On our last voyage with him his sermon was very moving and his choice of hymns quite appropriate. Every one sang really well and there was a very good congregation.

Very much a 'British service' including prayers for HM the Queen.

 

Happy memories,

 

Kind regards and a Happy peaceful Easter.

Tony

[rafinmd]

Queen Mary 2 is now about the latitude of the Spanish-French border, and is expected to reach Southampton on April 15.  From the roll call it sounds like Americans will be flying home.

 

Roy

[USCAdventurer]

one thing that confuses me. if the passengers on the QM2 were not able to fly home from australia, why are they able to fly home from london now?

[exlondoner]

6 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

one thing that confuses me. if the passengers on the QM2 were not able to fly home from australia, why are they able to fly home from london now?

Three possilities, I suppose.

1. They were lying.

2.They could manage an eight hour flight, but not one lasting over twenty.

3. Their condition has improved.

[rafinmd]

4 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

one thing that confuses me. if the passengers on the QM2 were not able to fly home from australia, why are they able to fly home from london now?

I wonder if they had alleged at the beginning that the problem was long flights if Cunard would have been willing to say Sydney Wednesday, Honolulu Friday, San Francisco Sunday, and New York Tuesday. 

 

I suspect there are some where long flights were in a different ball park from shorter ones but perhaps the bigger motivation was the prospect of being stuck in either the UK or no man's land for an indefinite period.

 

Roy

[milamber]

Ultimately for the USA guests still on board there isn't much of an alternative to taking a flight home from the UK, whatever the reason for not doing so from Perth. All our hotels are shut. Unless you happen to have a friend in the UK willing to accommodate you until this all blows over, which isn't as straightforward as it might be if one couple are 'at risk' and the others aren't, what alternative is there?

[longton]

They could also have flown Perth - Singapore - Dubai - London - New York.

 

They could have had one or two nights stopover in each city if ultra long flights were the issue.

 

The longest flight on this routing is London to New York which they now seem to be well enough to undertake.

 

I suspect most passengers were being economical with the truth when telling Cunard they couldn't fly.

 

The sea air obviously works wonders.

[Ray66]

5 minutes ago, longton said:

They could also have flown Perth - Singapore - Dubai - London - New York.

 

They could have had one or two nights stopover in each city if ultra long flights were the issue.

 

But all hotels are closed.

[Ray66]

 

QM2 is in the English Channel and nearly home! 🙂

[Cruise NH]

I wish those of you now 'wondering' how people could fly home from London but couldn't fly from Perth (and we don't know how many there are, we have heard from exactly ONE who has said she will be flying home from the UK) could have been there in the medical center with me the day before we all had to get off.  You might not be so quick to question their motives.

 

We had 24 hours notice to get off the ship and the stress level was VERY HIGH.  Try to imagine if you had a serious medical condition under those circumstances.  I know it's hard to remember now but the day before the announcement we were all off the ship, going to markets, eating at restaurants, it really didn't seem so bad then bang you're kicked off the ship and sent on a long journey home.  For us it was three planes and four airports, London to NY is a breeze compared to that.

 

In the end I chose to leave but I honestly thought, had I stayed, that we might have had a chance to take the QM2 home with perhaps a little delay in the UK.  At that time, from where we were, I thought the situation might improve (yeah I know I was wrong).  That said, I did also think there was a chance I would have to fly home from the UK had I stayed...maybe with a little medication help so it was in the back of my mind.

 

Another factor was that a number of the folks looking to stay were by themselves. Imagine going by yourself through multiple airports with your luggage when you're not well.  I was lucky to have my husband for support.

 

A number of you questioned why shorter trips couldn't have been arranged.  A lady down in the med center with us wanted to do just that, no more then 7 hour flights.  She had a heart condition and the ship's doctor told her if she stayed and had a heart attack while on board she would die.  I'm pretty sure she did fly home the next day but I don't know if she got her short flights.

 

 

 

 

[rafinmd]

It is now just after 9PM US Eastern time and should be just after 2AM in Southmapton.  Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is just starting to pass around the Isle of Wight on the very final stages of a successful mission.  I hope the crew and particularly Captain Hashmi soon get a chance to go home to a well deserved vacation.  I expect she will be in the berth for at least a couple of days until all the passengers are on their way home.

 

Well done

 

Roy

[chrisb74]

 

With the drop in flight capacity out of Australia Cunard may not have been able to get end to end business/first class for them. Economy may not be suitable for some medical conditions. 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by chrisb74

[Host Hattie]

Welcome home QM2- definitely not the homecoming expected when you left in January, but it's good to have you back in Southampton.

[IB2]

18 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Welcome home QM2- definitely not the homecoming expected when you left in January, but it's good to have you back in Southampton.

I happened to nip to the toilet at 2.30am and saw it out of the window, going past all lit up.  Brought back memories of last year's crossings.

[comas]

Hope this link to QM2 webcam works
 

 

https://www.*****/cruise-ship-webcams/cunard-cruise-line/queen-mary-2/

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by comas

[Host Hattie]

No it didn't but our webcam sticky does

 

 

[bluemarble]

Here's a screen grab I took last night of QM2 shining through the darkness as seen on the Cowes Yachting webcam found on isleofwightwebcams.co.uk. This was taken about 5:00am local time this morning as she was passing Cowes on her way into Southampton.

 

[Host Hattie]

Lovely, I hope it's not too long before she's sailing again and those on board reach their final destinations without too much trouble.