QM2 Delayed arrival in Hamburg 20th September

[Nikita4]

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

The delay was not because of weather. They dismantled a World War 2 bomb near the Steinwerder terminal. Hence Aida could not leave yesterday and QM2 was not able to come in early this morning. All went well!

And the weather conditions on the Elbmündung were very bad last night, so they can‘t board the riverpilot until 7 am.

[Pushpit]

13 hours ago, Kynance said:

Some passengers did decide to ignore the request not to queue early for the gangways which did contribute to some crowding and there ended up being a bit of confusion as to which gangway was which - one for was “in transit” guests like us and the other for everyone leaving the ship altogether. 

I would have been one of the naughty people in Fast Track disembarkation, though we were told to join the queue in question. Clearly there were others who had luggage in the system who wanted to get off first, and the crew were very polite in explaining it was pointless being in Fast Track since the containers of baggage needed to get from QM2 to the terminal building and then sorted. My excuse was that having missed my original flight, I was theoretically getting into a danger zone for missing my new flight, the last one back to Edinburgh so I really did need to get to the airport. 

 

Indeed this was a short cruise where everything went wrong, but still we overcame, so no regrets. I very much take onboard the advice to go the night before, I often do that, and perhaps leave a night in the arrival port too, but due to other commitments I had to travel to Southampton on the day of departure, and return home on the day of arrival into Hamburg. 

 

So the things that went wrong were

- first flight to London cancelled the night before departure

- rebooked flight arrived 80 minutes late due to poor weather

- therefore missed the booked train from Woking to Southampton

- next train, that left an hour later, then encountered a broken down freight train in Basingstoke

- the train got rerouted via Petersfield rather than Winchester (very pretty ride though)

- the Swanwick to Hamble section we absolutely crawled through, so ended up 2.5 hours late in Southampton, just before 3pm.

- galeforce winds and rough seas in the German Bight (admittedly I barely noticed)

- QM2 then gets locked out of Hamburg and we arrive 7.5 hours late

- missed my original flight back home

- replacement flight home in the end was also 2.5 hours late due to weather.

 

The moral of the story, though, was I made the sailing, had a great time, and got home safely, if somewhat late and exhausted. Even when a few things go wrong, it's possible to skate around it.

 

And I had a new experience seeing the whole Elbe section, including the Kiel Canal entrance, in daylight and in pleasant weather. Because QM2 was unusually moving through Hamburg in the middle of the day, lots more people in the city saw us. And despite being a very regular visitor she still stops the traffic and people come out to watch us arrive.

[exlondoner]

11 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I would have been one of the naughty people in Fast Track disembarkation, though we were told to join the queue in question. Clearly there were others who had luggage in the system who wanted to get off first, and the crew were very polite in explaining it was pointless being in Fast Track since the containers of baggage needed to get from QM2 to the terminal building and then sorted. My excuse was that having missed my original flight, I was theoretically getting into a danger zone for missing my new flight, the last one back to Edinburgh so I really did need to get to the airport. 

 

Indeed this was a short cruise where everything went wrong, but still we overcame, so no regrets. I very much take onboard the advice to go the night before, I often do that, and perhaps leave a night in the arrival port too, but due to other commitments I had to travel to Southampton on the day of departure, and return home on the day of arrival into Hamburg. 

 

So the things that went wrong were

- first flight to London cancelled the night before departure

- rebooked flight arrived 80 minutes late due to poor weather

- therefore missed the booked train from Woking to Southampton

- next train, that left an hour later, then encountered a broken down freight train in Basingstoke

- the train got rerouted via Petersfield rather than Winchester (very pretty ride though)

- the Swanwick to Hamble section we absolutely crawled through, so ended up 2.5 hours late in Southampton, just before 3pm.

- galeforce winds and rough seas in the German Bight (admittedly I barely noticed)

- QM2 then gets locked out of Hamburg and we arrive 7.5 hours late

- missed my original flight back home

- replacement flight home in the end was also 2.5 hours late due to weather.

 

The moral of the story, though, was I made the sailing, had a great time, and got home safely, if somewhat late and exhausted. Even when a few things go wrong, it's possible to skate around it.

 

And I had a new experience seeing the whole Elbe section, including the Kiel Canal entrance, in daylight and in pleasant weather. Because QM2 was unusually moving through Hamburg in the middle of the day, lots more people in the city saw us. And despite being a very regular visitor she still stops the traffic and people come out to watch us arrive.

QM2 really does seem to be treated like a Queen when she is in Hamburg. It is a shame she can no longer dock at Hafencity, where she was so much more visible.

[Kynance]

@Pushpit - so sorry to hear about your litany of travel woes but glad you still enjoyed the trip. I think your approach to disembarkation was fair enough in the circumstances. As you say, there was no point in others joining the queue if their luggage was still on the ship. When we disembarked there wasn’t a lot of baggage in the hall at all  - hence most of it was still to come ashore. 
 

We had calm weather overnight. We’ve just had the Captain’s noon address - the ship is expected to be alongside in Southampton by 7am tomorrow. 

[Millieloulou]

QM2 has just sailed past our house looking very regal and beautifully lit up.Only doing 10 knots .So looking forward to being on her at Christmas.

ps.Couldn’t see any blue jeans !,

[bitob]

adding my 2 cents

 

situation was handled really well

particularly tough on cabin stewards who couldn’t prepare cabins for new guests as those on board were permitted to stay in their cabins

 

could have been chaotic

it was not

[Germancruiser]

Pushpit - I really really like your attitude- that´s is exactly how one should take things- see the good and cope with the bad- or the things that went wrong. 13 more days and I will board QM2 again- well first the long fly to Quebec- with a 5 hours overlay in Montreal- so a long day- but - at the end of the day is an overnight in Quebec board QM2 the next. So I will take it in my stride.