Where in the world ?

[bluemarble]

14 minutes ago, sfred said:

Unless there are any alternative rulings, I'll count port/cruise-by number 577 as Kongsfjorden, Norway. 

 

For now, I'm recording it in our "seen" ports list as Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen to match how I've recorded the other ports in Spitsbergen (such as Magdalenefjorden).

[bluemarble]

How about this one? Once gain it's a webcam view of a location we've seen before. I've edited out the wording on the white placard which would have given it away otherwise.

 

[sfred]

2 hours ago, bluemarble said:

How about this one? Once gain it's a webcam view of a location we've seen before. I've edited out the wording on the white placard which would have given it away otherwise.

 

 

 

Very nice webcam photo of QM2, @bluemarble.  The webcam is on the Steubenhöft pier in Cuxhaven, Germany. downriver from Hamburg on the Elbe.   The wording you blanked out is elb-link.de (or at least it was in the August 2019 google streetview).  Parts of the original wording are still visible under the new placard, which I assume was Scandinavian Seaways.  A search for "Scandinavian Seaways ferry pier" got me the start I needed to find this webcam.

[bluemarble]

That's correct, @sfred. That image is from the Schiffsansagedienst-Cuxhaven webcam found at "www.schiffsansagedienst-cuxhaven.de/webcam/index.php". Looks like they've changed the wording on that placard slightly. Here is the unedited webcam image showing the placard reading "Elbferry".

 

 

Now here is the first webcam image from Cuxhaven I posted on this thread back in September 2020 captured from a different webcam in a slightly different position.

 

 

Back then I asked what date that webcam image had been captured. We figured it was after a refit because QM2 was passing Cuxhaven in the morning sun after departing Hamburg. If you look closely at QM2's profile, it's from after her 2016 remastering. The date of that image was June 18, 2016.

 

Now I'll pose a similar question about the latest Cuxhaven webcam image I posted above. That image was captured since the resumption of service last year. What date was that latest Cuxhaven webcam image captured?

[sfred]

36 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

What date was that latest Cuxhaven webcam image captured?

 

This is a guess...

 

The one time Mrs sfred and I departed Hamburg on QM2 was way back in June 2015 (on the 175th anniversary westbound crossing).  From memory it was dark by the time we passed Cuxhaven.

 

So if the newer Cuxhaven webcam photo shows QM2 in the daylight, that implies she left Hamburg either late the night before and passed Cuxhaven in the morning of the following day, or departed Hamburg much earlier in the day in order to pass Cuxhaven before dark.  From the position of the light in the webcam photo, I'll guess she departed Hamburg late at night.

 

A recent time QM2 departed late at night was the Blue Festival on 20 August.  If she passed Cuxhaven the following morning, that would be 21 August.  (I might have these dates wrong - my CruiseCritic feed shows dates and times for Australia, which can be different from local dates in Germany). 

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, sfred said:

This is a guess...

 

The one time Mrs sfred and I departed Hamburg on QM2 was way back in June 2015 (on the 175th anniversary westbound crossing).  From memory it was dark by the time we passed Cuxhaven.

 

So if the newer Cuxhaven webcam photo shows QM2 in the daylight, that implies she left Hamburg either late the night before and passed Cuxhaven in the morning of the following day, or departed Hamburg much earlier in the day in order to pass Cuxhaven before dark.  From the position of the light in the webcam photo, I'll guess she departed Hamburg late at night.

 

A recent time QM2 departed late at night was the Blue Festival on 20 August.  If she passed Cuxhaven the following morning, that would be 21 August.  (I might have these dates wrong - my CruiseCritic feed shows dates and times for Australia, which can be different from local dates in Germany). 

 

I like your thinking there. QM2 did have a later than usual departure (about 10:00 PM) on August 19 because of the Blue Port Hamburg festival. That still meant she passed Cuxhaven during the night though (around 2:00 AM) on August 20.

[sogne]

3 hours ago, bluemarble said:

That's correct, @sfred. That image is from the Schiffsansagedienst-Cuxhaven webcam found at "www.schiffsansagedienst-cuxhaven.de/webcam/index.php". Looks like they've changed the wording on that placard slightly. Here is the unedited webcam image showing the placard reading "Elbferry".

 

 

Now here is the first webcam image from Cuxhaven I posted on this thread back in September 2020 captured from a different webcam in a slightly different position.

 

 

Back then I asked what date that webcam image had been captured. We figured it was after a refit because QM2 was passing Cuxhaven in the morning sun after departing Hamburg. If you look closely at QM2's profile, it's from after her 2016 remastering. The date of that image was June 18, 2016.

 

Now I'll pose a similar question about the latest Cuxhaven webcam image I posted above. That image was captured since the resumption of service last year. What date was that latest Cuxhaven webcam image captured?

June this year we had 2 departures at 0800 and 0200 approx both passed Cuxhaven in daylight and bright sunshine? 

[bluemarble]

4 minutes ago, sogne said:

June this year we had 2 departures at 0800 and 0200 approx both passed Cuxhaven in daylight and bright sunshine? 

 

Well done.

 

That webcam image at Cuxhaven could be following the 08:00 departure from Hamburg on June 15 after a scheduled overnight there. Or it could be following that 02:00 departure from Hamburg on June 23 which was a delayed departure caused by container ship traffic in the Elbe. Unfortunately the date stamp on my image (indicating when I actually got around to saving it after I pasted it into my photo editor) says June 30 so that's inconclusive.

 

If the image was from the 08:00 departure on June 15, that means it's showing an approximate time of 12:00 (noon) at Cuxhaven.

 

If the image was from the 02:00 departure on June 23, that means it's showing an approximate time of 06:00 at Cuxhaven. Sunrise on June 23 was 04:54, so that means the image would be about an hour after sunrise if it were from June 23.

 

My sense is that the lighting is coming directly from the east (the right) and there are some lengthy shadows which appear to be consistent with it being about an hour after sunrise rather than noon. Therefore I think that image is most likely from June 23. But I acknowledge June 15 is also a possibility.

[sogne]

23 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Well done.

 

That webcam image at Cuxhaven could be following the 08:00 departure from Hamburg on June 15 after a scheduled overnight there. Or it could be following that 02:00 departure from Hamburg on June 23 which was a delayed departure caused by container ship traffic in the Elbe. Unfortunately the date stamp on my image (indicating when I actually got around to saving it after I pasted it into my photo editor) says June 30 so that's inconclusive.

 

If the image was from the 08:00 departure on June 15, that means it's showing an approximate time of 12:00 (noon) at Cuxhaven.

 

If the image was from the 02:00 departure on June 23, that means it's showing an approximate time of 06:00 at Cuxhaven. Sunrise on June 23 was 04:54, so that means the image would be about an hour after sunrise if it were from June 23.

 

My sense is that the lighting is coming directly from the east (the right) and there are some lengthy shadows which appear to be consistent with it being about an hour after sunrise rather than noon. Therefore I think that image is most likely from June 23. But I acknowledge June 15 is also a possibility.

 passed this at 0600 approx  june 23rd

[bluemarble]

That's excellent, @sogne. Your photo of Meuse River at Cuxhaven on June 23 sure looks like it's showing the same green ship QM2 is passing as seen below the "Elbferry" placard on my webcam capture. Couldn't get much better confirmation than that.

[D&N]

I offer you my photo of a location that surprisingly (in my opinion) has not been seen before.

Taken late July or early August 2003. Some should instantly recognise it.

Unfair to ask the ship, as I don't recall which of two it was.

It was one of a few that could keep up with Queen Mary 2 in a favourable sea.

N.B. Ignore the date on the photo. I'd forgotten to set it on the camera.

Edited August 28, 2022 by D&N

[sfred]

56 minutes ago, D&N said:

I offer you my photo of a location that surprisingly (in my opinion) has not been seen before.

Taken late July or early August 2003. Some should instantly recognise it.

 

Thanks @D&N.  Bass Rock, Scotland UK.  I'm afraid I don't know the ship.  This is port/cruise-by number 578.

[sfred]

I usually post these graphs when we reach a nice round number of "seen" ports/cruise-by's, but we recently sped past 575, and 600 seems a ways off.  So here are the outputs from the analytics dataset I keep on the ports list. 

 

If anyone has any questions or requests for additional graphs, let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[D&N]

5 minutes ago, sfred said:

 

Thanks @D&N.  Bass Rock, Scotland UK.  I'm afraid I don't know the ship.  This is port/cruise-by number 578.

Of course it is. Congrats on being quickest. I'd be disappointed if the natives didn't recognise it! 😂

 

I'm not sure whether it was Superfast IX or X. IX is now Atlantic Vision sailing between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where I suppose it could potentially get close to QM2 and X is A-Nepita operating mainly Marseille - Corsica for Corsica Linea.

As with many Superfast ships she had a top speed of about 30kn and cruising around 25kn.

We used the Rosyth-Zeebrugge route for our 2003 summer holiday, and a mini cruise (our wine run) in spring 2004.

I've a few 2003 snaps that show parts of the ship, but nothing that would identify which.

 

[exlondoner]

9 hours ago, sfred said:

I usually post these graphs when we reach a nice round number of "seen" ports/cruise-by's, but we recently sped past 575, and 600 seems a ways off.  So here are the outputs from the analytics dataset I keep on the ports list. 

 

If anyone has any questions or requests for additional graphs, let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most interesting. Thank you. But what on earth does British Empire mean? Do you mean countries that were once UK colonies, in which case the inclusion of the word former might save some offence. Or do you mean the current Commonwealth, in which case, why not say so?

[bluemarble]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Most interesting. Thank you. But what on earth does British Empire mean? Do you mean countries that were once UK colonies, in which case the inclusion of the word former might save some offence. Or do you mean the current Commonwealth, in which case, why not say so?

 

That pie chart about the British Empire was my suggestion when @sfred was looking for ideas on how to analyze the data for the ports we've seen on this thread. This is how I worded that suggestion. The inclusion of the word "former" would probably be appropriate since that was indeed the gist of my suggestion.

 

On 6/27/2021 at 12:03 AM, bluemarble said:

This could get tricky to compile the stats for, but if you're up for a challenge, how about a pie chart counting the number of ports that were ever part of the British Empire at any time in the past versus those that never were? That might be an interesting comparison for a line with the British heritage of Cunard.

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

That pie chart about the British Empire was my suggestion when @sfred was looking for ideas on how to analyze the data for the ports we've seen on this thread. This is how I worded that suggestion. The inclusion of the word "former" would probably be appropriate since that was indeed the gist of my suggestion.

 

 

Thanks. This presumably means Boston and New York would be included? 😀

[exlondoner]

And also Corfu, I believe.

[babs135]

This is the only photo I can find of possibly the worst shore excursion we've ever done. Promised lots of photo ops on the tour, there were none and we really should have asked for a refund. You'll probably need some help with this so.....If I say the choices were reggae or water I suspect that will give it away. If you feel that it isn't worthy of inclusion in any lists I'll totally understand!!!

 

[D&N]

8 hours ago, babs135 said:

This is the only photo I can find of possibly the worst shore excursion we've ever done. Promised lots of photo ops on the tour, there were none and we really should have asked for a refund. You'll probably need some help with this so.....If I say the choices were reggae or water I suspect that will give it away. If you feel that it isn't worthy of inclusion in any lists I'll totally understand!!!

 

Devon House, Jamaica. So port should be Kingston, Jamaica.

 

Searched for "house museum commode chair",  similar image on Pinterest leading to a Flickr account identifying the source.

If you cleared the furniture from some of the rooms, they might make decent dance floors. Otherwise not my cup of tea either.

 

[Essiesmom]

For Reggae or water, I would guess Caribbean, maybe Jamaica.  A plantation house.  We toured a number of them on various islands.  I happen to enjoy historical stuff.  
  Well, I see D&N got there first, but my house was Rose Hall , from Falmouth.  EM

Edited August 29, 2022 by Essiesmom

[babs135]

It is Devon House in Kingston which was the only highlight of a very disappointing shore excursion. Driver was supposed to stop along the route to allow for photos but either didn't or chose non-photogenic points. With hindsight we really should have complained.

[sfred]

12 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

That pie chart about the British Empire was my suggestion when @sfred was looking for ideas on how to analyze the data for the ports we've seen on this thread. This is how I worded that suggestion. The inclusion of the word "former" would probably be appropriate since that was indeed the gist of my suggestion.

 

 

Thanks @bluemarble for your reply.  I just saw @exlondoner. 's post as my day is starting this morning.

 

As indicated, the intention was to see what proportion of "seen" Cunard ports and cruise-bys are in countries that were part of the former British empire.  I concur with @exlondoner's suggestion to include the wording "former" in the pie chart, and have done so.

 

The text analytics model uses a Wikipedia list of former "Empire" countries, and consists of the following.  If I've missed any, or included any that I shouldn't, please let me know.:

 

UK, Ireland, Gibralter, Minorca, Malta, Cyprus, Canada, Bermuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands, Anguilla, St Kitts, Jamaica, Montserrat, Grenada, Antigua, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, British Guiana, Belize, Pitcairn Island, Falkland Islands, Tristan de Cunha, St Helena, Ascension Island, Israel, Jordan,, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Aden, Sudan, Gambia, Sierre Leone, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Dijoubti, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Tonga, British Overseas Territories, Samoa

 

For the US, in the first versions of the the model I included all of the US.   I knew this was wrong, and eventually got around to adding a US State field to the model.  The count of US ports in the Former Empire includes WA, OR, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, NH and ME.  It excludes AK, HI, CA, TX, LA, AL, and FL because these states joined the US from origins other than the Empire.

 

However, examining the model to confirm the details for this post, I discovered that the formula linkage to the list of US states had broken when I brought the model out of archive when we restarted this thread.  The model was incorrectly counting all of the US again.  I've fixed that bug, added the "Former" wording to the chart, and updated the list of ports to include @babs135 photo of Kingston Jamaica as port 579 (and a "Former Empire" port).  A corrected pie chart is below.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by sfred

[exlondoner]

Still think Corfu, and the other Ionian Islands, should be included, as they were a British Protectorate after the Napoleonic Wars until 1868. Which is why they play cricket on the Liston.

[bluemarble]

Who about this one? It's a webcam capture of a port we've already seen but I thought this might be an interesting challenge for the 4000th post on this thread.