QM2 voyage M338 - 15 December 2023 - 7 nights - Westbound Transatlantic Crossing - reports onboard

[Pushpit]

Friday 15 December, 17:00 hrs

Location: Southampton Mayflower Terminal,  50.9044, -1.4290

 

Greetings from Southampton Mayflower Terminal onboard RMS Queen Mary 2. I think there are quite a few Cruise Critic members on board. Having got the Elon. Musk wifi to work I thought I would give over a few reports from time to time. This won't be a classic "Live From..." thread, plus I hope some others may pitch in with their experiences. I will try to get things like menus and programmes online.

 

Master Captain Andrew Hall has done a PA to say we hope to sail at 17:30 hrs, if loading can be completed, otherwise the next available slot out will be 21:00 hrs.

 

And I'll start with the Christmas Tree and today's programme. The scan quality needs a bit of work, but hopefully still readable.

 

[If you are not a member of CC, the PDF may not be visible. But if you sign up, all will be revealed].

 

Weather in port: fine, dry evening, mainly but clear some high clouds. Sunset 15:59 hrs

 

 

Adobe Scan 15 Dec 2023.pdf

Edited December 15, 2023 by Pushpit

[bluemarble]

3 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

Master Captain Andrew Hall has done a PA to say we hope to sail at 17:30 hrs, if loading can be completed, otherwise the next available slot out will be 21:00 hrs.

 

Very much looking forward to reports from this voyage.

 

Southampton VTS recently updated your departure time from 17:30 to 21:00 so that later departure time is looking more likely. MSC Euribia's departure time was also updated from 20:00 to 21:00.

[Pushpit]

This is certainly out of sequence, but it's a frequently asked question. Here are the transfer arrangement for arrival in Brooklyn to the airports, rail stations and Port Authority Terminal (bus and coach station). There are 2 options, coach and private transfers. These are booked on board and can't be made in advance of departure.

 

 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

Bon Voyage, I'm looking forward to your reports. 

[Pushpit]

Friday 15 December - 21:30 hrs update - still in Southampton.

 

Indeed we have a late departure, probably nearer 22:00 hrs by the sounds of it. The Captain had a second announcement on this, explaining that it was due to pre-booked container traffic passing through mid evening. We are going to be following a MSC vessel down into the Solent. He also went through the weather for the next few days, explaining it was "complex". By that he means tomorrow Saturday sounds fine and unremarkable, however we face a storm on Sunday afternoon, gale force 8, maybe severe gale force 9, before returning to something more sensible on Monday. The routing has been adjusted for this, with a Rhumb line route to the south of the norm, then Great Circle to get northwards towards Nova Scotia and Nantucket. We shall see.

==

My first meal is something of a cliché, fish and chips, then fruit crumble (plum and apple I think) in the Golden Lion, a bit after boarding.

 

 

 

 

==

 

I'm on Open Dining in the Britannia restaurant, which can sometimes be a bit tricky on day 1. But today at least they were well organised and no danger of sending away diners with bleepers.

 

 

 

 

This was the Skagen. I wish they did a bit more toast with it.

 

 

Then the Pork, which I very much enjoyed:

 

 

And finally the Chocolate Marquise.

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Pushpit

[paulco]

Oh I so love those pictures of dinner.  Did the Dec westbound a couple of times and loved every minute. Enjoy!

Edited December 15, 2023 by paulco

[sfred]

1 hour ago, Pushpit said:

He also went through the weather for the next few days, explaining it was "complex". By that he means tomorrow Saturday sounds fine and unremarkable, however we face a storm on Sunday afternoon, gale force 8, maybe severe gale force 9, before returning to something more sensible on Monday. The routing has been adjusted for this, with a Rhumb line route to the south of the norm, then Great Circle to get northwards towards Nova Scotia and Nantucket. We shall see.

 

The North Atlantic does look a bit bumpy.  Numbers are wave heights in meters.  Thanks for your reports, @Pushpit.

 

[NE John]

22 minutes ago, sfred said:

 

The North Atlantic does look a bit bumpy.  Numbers are wave heights in meters.  Thanks for your reports, @Pushpit.

 

Yes. The jet stream looks very active:

[Pushpit]

Saturday 16 December 2023

Location: At sea, Celtic Sea, 49.2521, -8.5021

22.3 knots, direction 258°

Force 6 winds, moderate seas.

 

I think departure last night was around 21:40 hrs, and overnight we've passed out of the English Channel into the Celtic sea. At dawn I saw some lights from the direction of Cornwall, but land is now firmly out of sight, Bishop Rock Lighthouse was 75 nm (nautical miles) at midday ship's time (GMT-1), and Fastnet 137 nm. Master Captain Andrew Hall, at his midday address, has reiterated that the seas will continue to swell up over the next 24 hours from the current force 6 to perhaps several gale force 9. So far it's just a bit of a pitch on board.

I think I have been a bit more successful with the Daily Programme upload, see blow.

 

So here is breakfast menu, this menu just doesn't change from day to day, or even year to year, but on disembarkation day they take a few items out.

 

 

And the salmon platter and "get up and go" options.

 

And finally just as a random picture, these are the pastries available in Sir Samuel's, for those who prefer a less involved breakfast.

DailyProgramme16Dec2023.pdf

Edited December 16, 2023 by Pushpit

[Host Hattie]

Looks like some interesting speakers today, hope you have a good sea day.

[Winifred 22]

Would love all those talks. 

[Victoria2]

35 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Would love all those talks. 

Would love all that breakfast!!

 

Blueberries on a small dish of oatmeal when at home doesn't come close to the yumness of a grilled breakfast with trimmings on Cunard!😕

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

Looks like some interesting speakers today, hope you have a good sea day.

Yes I attended Captain Rick Reynolds talk on Concorde, and John McCarthy CBE's account of his 5 years in captivity as a hostage of Islamic Jihad in Lebanon. Both were very good, but McCarthy's perspective on the terrible thing that happened to him and the other hostages was extraordinary. And very much relevant, in terms of the events in Gaza at the moment.

 

I do wish the Insights were better scattered into the afternoon, rather than compressing them into a fairly narrow morning window.

[Winifred 22]

24 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

Yes I attended Captain Rick Reynolds talk on Concorde, and John McCarthy CBE's account of his 5 years in captivity as a hostage of Islamic Jihad in Lebanon. Both were very good, but McCarthy's perspective on the terrible thing that happened to him and the other hostages was extraordinary. And very much relevant, in terms of the events in Gaza at the moment.

 

I do wish the Insights were better scattered into the afternoon, rather than compressing them into a fairly narrow morning window.

Yes I agree. On the TA in August sometimes there was just a window at 11 45 for lunch in Kings Court then back again for 12 15. I also like the Art Talks to fit in too. 

[exlondoner]

47 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

Yes I attended Captain Rick Reynolds talk on Concorde, and John McCarthy CBE's account of his 5 years in captivity as a hostage of Islamic Jihad in Lebanon. Both were very good, but McCarthy's perspective on the terrible thing that happened to him and the other hostages was extraordinary. And very much relevant, in terms of the events in Gaza at the moment.

 

I do wish the Insights were better scattered into the afternoon, rather than compressing them into a fairly narrow morning window.

But when would one have one’s nap?

[techteach]

Oh now I’m jealous - Stephen Payne is on board and speaking. I hope he does the same TA next year when we’ll be on board. Enjoy @Pushpit and thanks for your updates.

[Pushpit]

Saturday 16 December 2023 evening update 21:30 hrs GMT-1

Location: At sea, north Atlantic Ocean, Porcupine Abyssal Plain,  48.5654, -13.3389

22.1 knots, direction 259°

Force 6 winds, moderate seas.

 

 

The weather is a bit wet, squally showers. I don't think it's particularly cold, apparently 12 celsius, but it's not pleasant being outdoors at the moment. Poorer weather is still expected tomorrow, and she was rolling a bit mid afternoon, it's a bit less pronounced now though.

 

My Christmas tree and invitation to the Captain's Cunard World Club cocktail party have arrived, the party is tomorrow Sunday.

 

 

But we start with the Britannia lunch, where I got a plum window seat. Apologies for a slightly blurred menu.

 

 

 

I went for the Leek and Potato Soup, then the Vegetarian Shepherd's pie, which certainly looked homemade, and the Mango, Coconut and Ginger Fool (which was really good).

 

 

 

I had a bit of time in the gym this afternoon, I did take a few photos but there were too many people around, it's been busy in there today, so it may need a bit more time before I reveal them. There is quite a mix of people and no shortage of children on this Crossing.

==

Tonight is Gala Night, with the Black and White theme. And well followed as far as I can see.  We get a free drink of something fizzy.

 

 

And the menus were very good.

 

 

 

I went for the Goat Cheese Tart, the Bulgur Wheat Salad, then the Beef Wellington, medium rare, and finally the mercifully small Prune and Armagnac Sticky Toffee pudding. I saw the Baked Alaska and it was pretty large. Probably one of the best Cunard meals that I have had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

That looks like a pretty good dinner!

[sfred]

20 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I went for the Goat Cheese Tart, the Bulgur Wheat Salad, then the Beef Wellington, medium rare, and finally the mercifully small Prune and Armagnac Sticky Toffee pudding. I saw the Baked Alaska and it was pretty large. Probably one of the best Cunard meals that I have had.

 Yum!  Our last QE voyage had the goats cheese tart a few times.  I found it very tasty.  The Wellington also looks nicely done.  I'm envious. 

[TowandaUK]

Thank you for this - particularly the menus and food pictures. We are due on Queen Anne next year - our first Cunard experience. A lot of the posts seem to be about grills meals so it’s good to see details of Britannia meals. 

[Millieloulou]

We are joining at Brooklyn via a flight from the UK, for the Caribbean celebration.Could I ask if someone could find out if there is a New York excursion for passengers before the return to JFK and the flight home?I have been in New York several times,but MOH has not.I want him to see the sites for himself.

Thankyou so much 

[NE John]

If I had to be in these weather conditions, I’d rather be on the QM2 than any other form of transport - especially being on an airplane with turbulence from that nasty jet stream! I can’t imagine. 
Have fun onboard watching the waves…

 

[Pushpit]

2 hours ago, Millieloulou said:

We are joining at Brooklyn via a flight from the UK, for the Caribbean celebration.Could I ask if someone could find out if there is a New York excursion for passengers before the return to JFK and the flight home?I have been in New York several times,but MOH has not.I want him to see the sites for himself.

Thankyou so much 

I have the Shore Experiences leaflet that applies for 22 December, and I will see if they will give me the one for 3 January. But the leaflet I have now seems fairly similar to the ones in my.cunard, with 4 options for NY coach excursions, one transfer to Macy's and 3 bespoke options. The one that sounds nearest to your question is NYC142, a 4 hour coach based tour of Times Square, Empire State Building and the 9/11 Memorial. Limited walking. US$80 for adults, US$49 for children.

[Winifred 22]

20 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I have the Shore Experiences leaflet that applies for 22 December, and I will see if they will give me the one for 3 January. But the leaflet I have now seems fairly similar to the ones in my.cunard, with 4 options for NY coach excursions, one transfer to Macy's and 3 bespoke options. The one that sounds nearest to your question is NYC142, a 4 hour coach based tour of Times Square, Empire State Building and the 9/11 Memorial. Limited walking. US$80 for adults, US$49 for children.

I think the $80 trip is only for people returning to the ship. It was not available in August  to book for disembarking guests. I think they offer a special excisions for guests transferring to JFK I did that excursion and you couldn’t have done it with your luggage as we went through fast track immigration with people on excursions.

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Winifred 22

[Pushpit]

Sunday 17 December 2023 lunch update 12:30 hrs GMT-2 but written up a bit later

Location: At sea, north Atlantic Ocean, Faraday Fracture Zone approach,  47.4745, -21.6374

22.2 knots, direction 259°

Force 4 winds, moderate seas.

 

There was some poor weather expected this afternoon as mentioned by @NE John but it went over us sooner than forecast and during the middle of the night. That was a cold front, and in its wake there was a bank of fog, then cloud and now it's clearing up. There is even a bit of sunshine around. It's currently Force 4 but should drop down to Force 2-3, 13 celsius, waves < 3 metres. An occluded front is then expect tonight into tomorrow, when we will switch from Rhumb line to Great Circle and head towards Cape Race, Newfoundland. This front will give take us back up to Force 6-7 and 4 metre waves. Then Tuesday may be the best day of the Crossing, weather wise. Last night the outside decks were closed off but they are now back in operation. We have now covered 871 nautical miles, with 2311 nm ahead of us.

 

Anyway you're probably not here for the weather, here is breakfast.  The menu is in post 9. The oatmeal / porridge - well I should have stopped the wait staff from putting on quite so much hot milk. Then eggs benedict and a few extras.

 

 

And a quick look at the Carinthia Lounge options for breakfast for those who want a less elaborate start to the day (and Illy coffee)

 

 

 

And it being Sunday I went to the Interdenominational Church Service in the Royal Court Theatre, led by Captain Hall, with readings from other crew members. The order of service is attached as a PDF, along with today's Daily Programme (you will need to sign up to Cruise Critic to see PDFs). The more observant reader will detect that this looks remarkably like the Anglican 1662 Book of Common Prayer service for Matins. The readings were Isaiah 61 and John 1, the hymns where: Morning Has Broken, Crown Him with Many Crowns, Rock of Ages and inevitably Eternal Father Strong to Save.

 

Then I went to two good Insights' presentations, the Gilded Age of New York Architecture, for which the Cunard Line Building near Wall Street had a significant mention - a picture of which is in many statesrooms on QM2; and then to round 2 of Captain Reynolds and his experiences of flying Concorde.

QM2Programme17Dec2023.pdf

 

QM2InterdenomChurchService.pdf