Queen Elizabeth Position

[bluemarble]

Since my last post, Diamond Princess, Pacific Princess, Maasdam, Noordam, and Westerdam all entered Manila Bay and took up positions within the anchorage. But since there have always been several of the 28 cruise ships in the area temporarily out to sea for operational reasons, there haven't been more than the previous high of 25 cruise ships actually anchored/docked within Manila Bay at any one time. For that reason, I haven't posted any further port diagrams showing how many cruise ships are in Manila Bay.

 

Now this evening, it looks like two cruise ships may have left Manila for good. Voyager of the Seas is on her way to Singapore while Royal Princess departed just before noon showing "Int. Waters" for her destination.

 

Of course of the most interest to this forum is what QE's plans are. Will continue to keep an eye on her movements. Unless someone finds a tip elsewhere (perhaps in a social media post), we may not know until QE departs Manila showing a destination other than "Manila Anchorage".

Edited May 25, 2020 by bluemarble

[Colin_Cameron]

17 hours ago, sfred said:

 what is your best guess prediction of QE's location on 8 September?

Like you, part of me says #1.

 

But maybe something like #2 or #5 is the way to get things going again. Saling from Japan, with Japanese passengers, to Japanese ports, and finishing in Japan. Or sailing from NZ, with NZ passengers, to NZ ports and ending in NZ.

[DaveB42]

 
what is your best guess prediction of QE's location on 8 September?

My take:
On Sept 8th? Still in/near Manila Bay
Sept. 28th, the new cruise terminal in Tokyo.

The twenty days before that, crewing up, more cleaning, and I bet having the full on board for two weeks to be sure none of the crew are ill.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[bluemarble]

Here's a shot from QE's webcam from about an hour ago which I thought was interesting showing Quantum of the Seas and some of the Manila skyline around sunrise.

 

 

By the way, Royal Princess is on her way back to Manila. I suppose reporting "Int. Waters" for a destination is a way of saying "going out to sea for operational reasons" rather than keeping the destination "Manila" which has been the usual procedure for the cruise ships there.

Edited May 25, 2020 by bluemarble

[bluemarble]

Nothing new to report about QE's position. She's still anchored in Manila Bay. She was out to sea one day this past week for operational reasons.

 

There are now 23 cruise ships in Manila Bay following the departure of Celebrity Solstice, Explorer Dream, Maasdam, and Westerdam since my last post.

 

Several more cruise ships appear to be on their way to Manila.

1)  Nieuw Amsterdam is reporting Manila for her destination, ETA tomorrow, and is in range to meet that schedule.

2)  Crystal Serenity is also reporting Manila for her destination, ETA tomorrow, but has been out of AIS range for several days so can't speak to that schedule at this point.

3)  Voyager of the Seas looks like she's returning to Manila after having departed May 25th for Singapore. She's still reporting Singapore as her destination, but her track has her headed for Manila about a day out.

4)  Volendam is reporting a June 9th ETA in Manila.

5)  Crown Princess is reporting a June 10th ETA in Manila.

6)  Silver Muse is reporting a June 22nd ETA in Manila.

 

So, after thinking the party of cruise ships in Manila Bay was slowly breaking up over the past week or so, now I'm not so sure.

[bluemarble]

Add Costa Atlantica to the list of cruise ships heading to Manila. She's showing up about 120 NM west of Manila and is reporting Manila as her destination.

[DaveB42]

On 5/25/2020 at 12:33 PM, DaveB42 said:

My take:
On Sept 8th? Still in/near Manila Bay
Sept. 28th, the new cruise terminal in Tokyo.

The twenty days before that, crewing up, more cleaning, and I bet having the full on board for two weeks to be sure none of the crew are ill.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Well, so much for that prediction, the next scheduled cruise for QE is out of Melbourne, in November, and I wouldn’t put money on that happening either.

 

Oh well, we have a year and a half to decide where to spend our FCC, we paid for it almost 4 years ago as an on board furture cruise deposit, letting them hang on to the money won’t hurt us.

[bluemarble]

Not much new to report about QE's position other than another routine trip out to sea a couple days ago. The recent cancellation of her Japan itineraries does put a new perspective on her future plans. One does have to wonder if her Australia itineraries starting in November will happen as planned. We can hope anyway.

 

Since my last post, Eurodam has departed for Jakarta, Quantum of the Seas has departed for Singapore, and it looks like Costa Venezia may be on her way to Shenzhen. Costa Atlantica, Crystal Serenity, Nieuw Amsterdam, Voyager of the Seas, Volendam, and Crown Princess have arrived as expected. That brings my count of the cruise ships in and around Manila back up to 26.

 

Here are three future arrivals showing Manila for their destination to potentially add to the cruise ship parking lot there.

1)  Rotterdam (June 13th ETA)
2)  Island Princess (June 15th ETA)
3)  Silver Muse (June 22nd ETA as previously mentioned)

[bluemarble]

There are now a total of 29 cruise ships in and around Manila after the arrival of Rotterdam on Sunday, Island Princess yesterday, and Norwegian Joy this morning. This morning, two of those ships (Crown Princess and Voyager of the Seas) were out to sea and the other 27 were in Manila Bay as seen in this port diagram. One of those ships (Crystal Serenity) was docked in Manila South Harbor, highlighted in the upper right. The remaining 26 cruise ships, including Queen Elizabeth, were anchored in Manila Anchorage. To keep things simple, I have filtered out everything except passenger vessels in the diagram this time.

 

[bluemarble]

Oops, I see the port diagram I posted yesterday has now disappeared when viewed in a browser. That was a mistake I made when I originally posted it. Here goes again to show the 27 cruise ships that were anchored/docked at Manila on the morning of June 16th (local time).

 

 

Today, QE is out to sea for another routine trip.

 

It looks like Crystal Serenity has departed for Port Klang, so we're back down to 28 total cruise ships in and around Manila, counting those out to sea intending to return to Manila.

 

There are three future arrivals on the schedule, each reporting a June 22nd ETA at Manila (Costa Mediterranea, Viking Orion, and Silver Muse).

[bluemarble]

It's Sunday morning June 21st in Manila and we now have 28 cruise ships, including Queen Elizabeth, all anchored/docked within Manila Bay. Norwegian Joy is at Pier 15 while the remaining 27 cruise ships are in Manila Anchorage. Time for a new diagram since that represents a new high for the number of cruise ships parked in Manila Bay at the same time (at least since we've been keeping track on this thread).

 

 

That record may not last long though since Costa Mediterranea, Silver Muse, and Viking Orion are all due to arrive tomorrow. Plus Zuiderdam is also reporting Manila as her destination with an ETA of June 25th.

Edited June 21, 2020 by bluemarble

[bluemarble]

With the arrival of three more cruise ships on Monday (Costa Mediterranea, Silver Muse, and Viking Orion), we now have a new high total of 31 cruise ships at Manila. Four of those ships are currently out to sea for operational reasons, one is docked in Manila South Harbor, and 26 (including QE) are at anchor in Manila Anchorage.

 

Zuiderdam continues to report Manila as her destination with an ETA of June 25th.

 

Ovation of the Seas might be on her way back to Manila. She's reporting an obsolete June 18th destination of Singapore. Her current track makes Manila a possibility for her actual destination. Will keep an eye on that.

[bluemarble]

It's approaching noon on Tuesday, June 23rd in Manila and two of the cruise ships that were out to sea yesterday have returned. Of the 31 cruise ships at Manila, we now have 29 of them parked in Manila Bay for a new high total there. So it's time for a new port diagram. One cruise ship is docked at Pier 15 in Manila South Harbor and 28 cruise ships (including QE) are anchored in Manila Anchorage.

 

 

The two cruise ships not on this diagram because they are out to sea are Crown Princess and Voyager of the Seas.

Edited June 23, 2020 by bluemarble

[rafinmd]

10 hours ago, bluemarble said:

It's approaching noon on Tuesday, June 23rd in Manila and two of the cruise ships that were out to sea yesterday have returned. Of the 31 cruise ships at Manila, we now have 29 of them parked in Manila Bay for a new high total there. So it's time for a new port diagram. One cruise ship is docked at Pier 15 in Manila South Harbor and 28 cruise ships (including QE) are anchored in Manila Anchorage.

 

 

The two cruise ships not on this diagram because they are out to sea are Crown Princess and Voyager of the Seas.

I think Noordam is also gone just temporarily.

 

Roy

[bluemarble]

15 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I think Noordam is also gone just temporarily.

 

Roy

 

Quite right. As it turned out, Noordam was beginning to depart as I was submitting my previous post. So that count of 29 cruise ships parked at Manila lasted a bit less than two hours between the return of Island Princess a few minutes after 10:00am and Noordam's departure a few minutes before noon. Sea Princess has also departed temporarily, having left later in the afternoon around 5:30pm.

[bluemarble]

It's Thursday morning June 25th in Manila and time for another port diagram since we now have 30 of the 31 cruise ships at Manila parked within Manila Bay at the same time (one docked at pier 15 and 29 including QE in the anchorage). Costa neoRomantica is the ship that's out to sea.

 

 

Next to arrive at Manila is Zuiderdam. She's reporting today for her ETA, but she's still about a day out.

 

Two more cruise ships, Carnival Conquest and Carnival Dream, are reporting Manila as their destination, both with June 29th as their ETA.

 

It still looks like Ovation of the Seas could possibly be heading back to Manila, but can't tell for sure quite yet.

[sogne]

postings on various FB pages suggest she is leaving Manilla soon and returning to Southampton via Singapore for fuel and supplies arriving 24th July  there is nothing on Southampton VTS schedule  about his at present

[bluemarble]

It's Friday, June 26th in Manila and there are still 31 cruise ships there. Amsterdam departed for Jakarta yesterday but Zuiderdam has arrived to keep the count at 31. Costa neoRomantica has returned from her trip out to sea. That means we now have all 31 cruise ships docked/anchored within Manila Bay, so it's time for a new port diagram.

 

 

Ovation of the Seas is pretty clearly on her way back to Manila. She's heading toward Manila from the west and is less than 24 hours out now.

[Bell Boy]

15 hours ago, sogne said:

postings on various FB pages suggest she is leaving Manilla soon and returning to Southampton via Singapore for fuel and supplies arriving 24th July  there is nothing on Southampton VTS schedule  about his at present

Correct, Crew member friends who are onboard tell me they are preparing to sail today 'Friday 26th June for the UK' , expected to arrive home July 24th.

Thank goodness she is coming home to where she belongs. 

[bluemarble]

QE is on her way. She has begun her departure from Manila within the past half hour, reporting Singapore as her next destination, ETA July 1st.

Edited June 26, 2020 by bluemarble

[Solent Richard]

On 6/26/2020 at 6:52 AM, Bell Boy said:

Correct, Crew member friends who are onboard tell me they are preparing to sail today 'Friday 26th June for the UK' , expected to arrive home July 24th.

Thank goodness she is coming home to where she belongs. 

Spot on Bell Boy.

 

Ive been reading the same on the Cunard fb groups that I administer: which all have crew links...

 

 

As you say..." she is coming home to where she belongs'.

 

 

[bluemarble]

QE has arrived at Singapore on July 1st as scheduled. It's about 1:00pm local time. I've been impressed by the sheer number of ships of all types at Singapore. From what I've just been reading, Singapore ranks anywhere from first to third in the rankings of the world's busiest cargo ports depending on the metric used.

 

 

For those still interested in the ongoing situation at Manila, they reached a new high of 34 cruise ships there on Monday after the return of Ovation of the Seas and Costa Venezia plus the arrival of Carnival Conquest and Carnival Dream. They're back down to 33 cruise ships now though after the departure of Viking Orion for Hong Kong yesterday. There have always been several ships out to sea the past few days, so they've matched but haven't yet topped 31 cruise ships docked/anchored within Manila Bay at any given time.

Edited July 1, 2020 by bluemarble

[sogne]

currently at anchor refuelling from barge Vantek 6 just off Singapore port

[bluemarble]

QE is now on her way from Singapore, reporting Suez as her next destination, ETA July 14th.

[Germancruiser]

Suez QE ´s next destination. Maybe they " called" her back to England... - to meet up with her sisters.