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

[Winifred 22]

3 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

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 777.78 kB · 0 downloads

 

QM2InterdenomChurchService.pdf 514.05 kB · 0 downloads

I do like the services. Last year I was onboard on Remembrance Sunday and it was a lovely service.

 

[Pushpit]

Sunday 17 December 2023 evening update 21:30 hrs GMT-2 but written up a bit later

Location: At sea, north Atlantic Ocean, Olympus Knoll,  46.8301, -26.2881

22.0 knots, direction 259°

Force 4 winds, moderate seas.

 

It's an overcast evening, but not too unpleasant, there is a very modest swell on the sea, it is overcast but the odd star peeps down on us. I can't see the lights from any other vessel, though there is a cargo ship not that far away according to the online mappers. There's a light roll on at the moment, a bit more than during much of the day, but not much of a disturbance.

 

Back to lunch.

 

 

I had the Spring Roll, which makes a regular appearance on Cunard menus, the Chicken Schnitzel, and a pretty sensational Tarte Tatin. The couple on the next table said that they were disturbed by the weather during the night, though I appear to have just slept through it.

 

 

 

 

Then this afternoon we were off to the Queens Room for the Cunard World Club meeting with the captain and crew. As ever, the most frequent traveller on board had a jaw dropping number of nights, in her case 1398 nights on board, and a German couple had 1192 nights. The refit was mentioned by the captain, and other crew mentioned there were a lot of changes on the bridge and engine room. It was mentioned that the lighting system has been moved to LCD and other energy efficient bulbs - I did think the Britannia restaurant was much better lit than on my previous trip a few months ago. The captain said that 24 km of filler had been squeezed between the wooden flooring. And that the wifi upgrade had exceeded all expectations (and indeed it's gone from mediocre to excellent, in my experience).

 

Then an early supper:

 

 

I had the aspargus, the onion soup, the pork and the pavlova. I have to say it was probably the soup I enjoyed the most, it's something I really like anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was off to the Royal Court for tonight's headliner, which was the Kings of the Boardwalk, a set of 4 singers from the original cast of the Drifters Girl musical. Their performance of soul from Ben E King and the Drifters was certainly several notches above the usual quality threshold.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Pushpit

[Zeg]

Thank you so much for a full and detailed account.  Very much valued and appreciated.

[starquake]

18 hours 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.

Last year friends flew back after the Carribean segment and Cunard offered a Times Square and other tour for those guests that finished at JFK for their flights.   We didn't finish as we had 3 extra days in New York before returning.

 

This dissapointed our friends who done same tour ... on the arrival to NYC from Southampton.   

[Millieloulou]

Thankyou so much to everyone who has helped with their reply’s.I am ever hopeful that I can talk MOH into to making the Caribbean voyage next time ,Southampton to Southampton.

So glad everyone is having a great time, all the meals look mouthwatering.We are counting down the hours !

[spirit rev]

3 hours ago, Millieloulou said:

Thankyou so much to everyone who has helped with their reply’s.I am ever hopeful that I can talk MOH into to making the Caribbean voyage next time ,Southampton to Southampton.

So glad everyone is having a great time, all the meals look mouthwatering.We are counting down the hours !

We are also counting down the hours to the Caribbean part of this cruise. We are appreciating this "live from" report. 

Will be heading down to NYC on Thursday. It is just a short (2.5 hours) train ride. 

[Pushpit]

Monday 18 December 2023 lunch update 12:30 hrs GMT-2 but written up a bit later

Location: At sea, north Atlantic Ocean, approaching Milne Seamounts,  46.5385, -34.1324

21.1 knots, direction 270° 

Force 6 winds NNW, moderate seas.

And this shows how we have now moved off the Rhumb Line and on to the Great Circle by going from 260 to 270 degrees.

 

The weather so far today has been sunny, but there is a cold wind, so the upper decks 12 - 13 areas are out of bounds, but decks 11, 8, 7 and 6 are all open. It's 9c, so a bit chilly even if there was no wind. It's running at Force 4 to 6, but the captain's announcement today said that we were now past the occluded front and heading for 24 hours of improving weather, notably tomorrow. So waves should fall from the current 4 or 5 metres down to 2 metres or so and light winds, Force 2. Wednesday and Thursday won't be so good as we approach the Grand Banks of Canada. 

 

We are 430 nautical miles from the nearest land, which is Corvo island in the Azores, and 762 nm from St John's, Newfoundland. We have now travelled 1400 nm from Southampton and have 1785 to get to New York, so we should get to the halfway point at 21:00 hrs (GMT-2) today.

 

Here are some photos from my sheltered balcony and from deck 12.

 

 

 

Breakfast today was Sliced Fruit, the Ham Turkey and Cheese Continental Platter, and the Omelette with bacon. I asked for the chilli, it came out a bit hotter than expected. Menu in post 9 above. Then there is a photo from my table neighbour in Carinthia Lounge, with the breakfast custard doughnut and Caffè Latte.

 

 

 

 

 

I went to Dr. Payne's lecture on airships, followed by Captain Reynold's take on the Concorde crash in Paris in July 2000. 

[Pushpit]

Today's Daily Programme.

 

QM2Programme18Dec2023.pdf

[sfred]

4 hours ago, Pushpit said:

 Then there is a photo from my table neighbour in Carinthia Lounge, with the breakfast custard doughnut and Caffè Latte.

 

Those custard doughnuts are wonderful.  I have to avoid passing through Carinthia whenever they are on offer.

 

Looks like you may encounter another bumpy area off the US east coast prior to arriving in NY.

 

[NE John]

21 hours ago, Pushpit said:

- I did think the Britannia restaurant was much better lit than on my previous trip a few months ago.

The Cunard plating Britannia logo makes a huge positive impression in presentation vs other lines main dining room cafeteria-like non-logo dishes. 
This Britannia presentation looks so much better than even a nice line like Celebrity MDR:

 

[Pushpit]

Monday 18 December 2023 evening update 20:30 hrs GMT-2

Location: At sea, north Atlantic Ocean, just over Milne Seamounts,  46.5385, -34.1324

21.8 knots, direction 271° 

Force 6 winds NNW, moderate seas.

==

The sea is a bit calmer (maybe) but we are still gently rocking around here and there, at roughly the half way point of the voyage. But the sky must be fairly clear since the night-time stars are largely visible.

 

Here are the Britannia lunch menus.

 

 

However I did not go there for lunch today, instead I went for lunch in The Verandah, a steakhouse alternative dining option on QM2. It's US$30 for lunch there (or included as a Diamond CWC perk), in the evenings that goes to $50 but with a stronger menu. The other alternative dining options are Bamboo, an Asian fusion dedicated area by Kings Court. That would be the last night, tomorrow it switches over to La Piazza, an Italian themed eatery. These options are evening only and $25 per person. In addition to the menus provided, eating at these locations provides a high service standard, and a more intimate and relaxed environment that the larger restaurants.

 

Here is Verandah's lunch menu.

I went for the really lovely clam chowder, then the steak with mash and broccoli, followed by apple pie. The steak was very good, given the source, but it won't go down as the finest steak going, so it may be worth bearing in mind if you are a real steak aficionado.

and the hot and sticky bread served with it:

 

 

 

 

 

Then this afternoon was the Christmas Carol concert, led by the captain and officers of the QM2, in the grand lobby. We were given this carol booklet of secular and profane, and a large crowd joined in. When we got to the end of "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas", a small cloud of snow glitter fluttered down from the ceiling, I'm glad they had the engineers able to arrange this.

 

On to dinner, and back in the Britannia. I am on Open Dining, but on this occasion I was led downstairs to Deck 2. As it happens I was placed with a serving staff member who recognised me and I recognised too, from the recent Hamburg trip, so that was good. This menu was in the ok to good area, but the other nights were better in my view.

 

 

 

I went for the trout, the golden beetroot salad, the broccoli and Stilton soup, the lamb and the lemon bread and butter pudding. I feel obliged to point out that the salad wasn't served this way, I turned it for the photo.

 

 

 

 

And that's enough for one day.

[Underwatr]

On 12/17/2023 at 12:45 PM, Pushpit said:

 

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.

I believe you may be in for another one, which passed up the US coast today (Monday). Lots of wind and a fair amount of rain and minor flooding.

[Underwatr]

For those going on to the Caribbean - if Midge Ure will still be aboard that segment (I seem to recall a mention of it from Cunard some months ago), his performance in 2018 was the best show I've ever seen at sea.

[NE John]

44 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

Midge Ure will still be aboard that segment

I saw him play in Thin Lizzy in 1979!  Subbing in as second guitarist. 
Great that he’s still rocking!

[techteach]

@Pushpit I’m sure glad you admitted to turning the plate of salad so you could take the picture. The plating inspectors would have been all over that! The emblem must be properly centered at the top. The food is looking good.

[Victoria2]

10 hours ago, Underwatr said:

For those going on to the Caribbean - if Midge Ure will still be aboard that segment (I seem to recall a mention of it from Cunard some months ago), his performance in 2018 was the best show I've ever seen at sea.

He was a speaker this year on one of our cruises.

Excellent.

[Pushpit]

Tuesday 19 December, morning

 

Just to put up today's Daily Programme.

 

QM2Programme19Dec2023.pdf

Edited December 19, 2023 by Pushpit

[Underwatr]

I prefer the time changes to occur overnight but every trip someone reads the next day's Daily Programme before going to bed, sees the notice about "Time change tomorrow morning" and dutifully changes their clock immediately.

[Fsulaw1]

Can you please tell me if you can book the Kings Court specialty restaurant in advance?  And if not, how do you do so when you board?  I would like to go one night.

[Underwatr]

I'm pretty sure you can do it in the online My Voyage webpage once you're onboard. 

[Pushpit]

11 minutes ago, Fsulaw1 said:

Can you please tell me if you can book the Kings Court specialty restaurant in advance?  And if not, how do you do so when you board?  I would like to go one night.

This could mean two things: there is the Chef's Galley area serving burgers at lunch, pizzas in the evening, you just turn up for these, no charge, and it's not so popular that you need to rush or do any particular tactics for it.

 

There's also the "Alternative Dining" options, on this voyage Bamboo and La Piazza, which is on the side of the Deck 7 just over from the main Kings Court drag. These should be booked, there is a US$25 charge. You can do this in advance via my.cunard.com around 3 weeks from departure - I see no advantage in doing this at that point. Or you can use the myvoyage app style tool that's available to everyone once on board, regardless of whether or not they have paid for internet access. Here's what that looks like:

 

Alternatively just pop around to the front desk of the Alternative Dining location the night beforehand and put your name down. Or indeed just call them from your stateroom or suite on the provided telephone. They just need the information above plus your stateroom number.

[Fsulaw1]

26 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

This could mean two things: there is the Chef's Galley area serving burgers at lunch, pizzas in the evening, you just turn up for these, no charge, and it's not so popular that you need to rush or do any particular tactics for it.

 

There's also the "Alternative Dining" options, on this voyage Bamboo and La Piazza, which is on the side of the Deck 7 just over from the main Kings Court drag. These should be booked, there is a US$25 charge. You can do this in advance via my.cunard.com around 3 weeks from departure - I see no advantage in doing this at that point. Or you can use the myvoyage app style tool that's available to everyone once on board, regardless of whether or not they have paid for internet access. Here's what that looks like:

 

Alternatively just pop around to the front desk of the Alternative Dining location the night beforehand and put your name down. Or indeed just call them from your stateroom or suite on the provided telephone. They just need the information above plus your stateroom number.

Thank u for the info. I did mean paid specialty. My cruise isn’t until Oct so I will calendar 3 wks out for a reservation.

[TouchstoneFeste]

Apparently we had the first "backstage tour" they've managed to give since the pandemic shutdown. VERY enjoyable. We were able visit the bridge, and got the chief engineer's take on the engine control room. The room has been completely refitted with new electronics. Speaking of which, I was amazed (after going through the bridge - which is heavily electronic and where the ship is normally driven by a joystick) to see the workings of the mooring deck, which is nearly completely driven by men with bulging muscles, heaving ropes and calling out "more slack" / "pull harder".

[Pushpit]

Tuesday 19 December 2023 lunch update 12:30 hrs GMT-3 but written up a bit later

Location: At sea, north Atlantic Ocean, approaching Grand Banks,  46.2287, -47.7819

19.6.1 knots, direction 261° 

Force 3 winds S, slight seas.

 

 

Slightly abbreviated today, been to lots of events and even 25 hour days are not enough. I've hardly been in my stateroom today.

 

But it's a beautiful day today, very smooth, and lovely sunny weather, 9 celsius so not warm. We do have some poor weather tomorrow, but the captain suggested that since the angle of "attack" is beam-side, it won't be so noticeable. But he did suggest it may get to Force 9, maybe even 10. It's started to get a bit showery now.  Right now, 18:00 hrs GMT-3, we are just over 150 statute miles from Cape Race in Newfoundland.

 

There was an emergency drill for the crew today, just a routine event lasting well over an hour, which meant we couldn't use outside deck 7. But the upper decks were popular, including the outdoor pursuits. That's tennis in the left nets, and golf in the right.

 

Winding back to breakfast in the Britannia Restaurant, menu in post 9, today I went for the Italian Salami continental platter, with the fruit salad. Then the kippers with some extras. I think I'm running out of breakfast combinations now, or at least the options I'm prepared to eat!

 

 

 

The emergency drill probably explained the delay to the Insights programme, the first one today being at 11:00 hrs, round 2 of John McCarthy experiences as a hostage for 5 years in Lebanon. Today he talked about the latter years, his meeting with Sir Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy who also ended up kidnapped, and his eventual release via Damascus.

 

Then at 12:15 I went to hear Phillip James Dodd reflecting on the Gilded Age mansions of New York, and a few "spite mansions"! 

[NE John]

I notice the current Catholic chaplain onboard is a Jesuit and former President of Fairfield University where I got my MBA. 
He certainly landed a nice retirement gig!