LIVE (almost) from QM2 Transatlantic June 23 to June 29

[exlondoner]

7 minutes ago, King Amo said:

Interesting. You live and learn. I could have sworn banoffee pie was a southern states thing that we'd adopted over here (although I had no idea why as the very thought of it makes me feel ill). Had no idea it was actually the other way round, and it isn't that prominent across the US

https://iandowding.co.uk/
 

As I’m not sure where you are, I don’t know what you mean by over here.

[King Amo]

Thanks exlondoner. By 'over here' I mean the UK

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, King Amo said:

Thanks exlondoner. By 'over here' I mean the UK

But it is sort of US, if you go back enough.

[missson1967]

2 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

Had to Google "banoffee" as I never heard of such a thing in my life, but sounds delicious to me.   Haven't seen that on a menu yet.  Maybe tonight in Kings Court. 

Maybe you could ask Osman for an off-menu Banoffee Pie flavoured macaroon ... to go?!

[Joe33472]

36 minutes ago, missson1967 said:

Maybe you could ask Osman for an off-menu Banoffee Pie flavoured macaroon ... to go?!

 

OMG, that's too funny.  I'll put the request in at dinner tonight and let him know that @missson1967 recommend banoffee flavored macaroons, but that I can only take them to go. 

 

Edit to say:  And you know what.... He'd probably make it happen.  It's not a big deal to get something to go, even Banoffee Pie.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 04:49 PM by Joe33472

[Joe33472]

On 6/25/2024 at 10:59 PM, vieux_carre said:

Curious if you have visited the Mareel Spa and aquatherapy center yet.  Before the refit last fall, there were reports of various areas not working or in need of a good sprucing up, but I suspect that this was addressed.  Do you know what the charge is for a full voyage pass to the aquatherapy center would cost?  I've heard that the price for such a package sometimes varies as Mareel, being a separate entity, sets their own rates...

 

@vieux_carre we were up at the front of the ship this afternoon and popped into the spa.  So, I asked for a price list.  Not sure if this is helpful or not.   I now see as I'm posting that you were looking for full voyage pass prices.  Maybe that list is already done because we're almost at the end of the cruise. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Victoria2]

14 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

... And you know what.... He'd probably make it happen.  It's not a big deal to get something to go...

 

 

I usually got a couple of the round Lindor type petit four chocs to go of an evening, in a drinks paper napkin. My choc treat the following day! 🙂

[Joe33472]

Really cool that you can observe the bridge on QM2.   They don't want you to take pictures, so I don't have any and I followed the rules.   But below is an information booklet that was available at the entrance to the viewing area. Really cool feature on QM2.  

 

QM2 Bridge & Navigation Information .pdf

[BklynBoy8]

3 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

 

Hello Joe,

I know time is getting short but please take advantage of the time you still have to enjoy.

 

Watching Weather Channel and wanted to share Brooklyn Weather for Saturday for the Day of your Arrival.

BROOKLYN, NY  Mostly Cloudy 81/74 with 20% Rain for the Day.

 

Wish you Smooth Sailing with your Arrival into NY Harbor...

[Joe33472]

2 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Hello Joe,

I know time is getting short but please take advantage of the time you still have to enjoy.

 

Watching Weather Channel and wanted to share Brooklyn Weather for Saturday for the Day of your Arrival.

BROOKLYN, NY  Mostly Cloudy 81/74 with 20% Rain for the Day.

 

Wish you Smooth Sailing with your Arrival into NY Harbor...

 

Thanks Eddie for the weather update!  We're having a great time and actually looking forward to the cruising into NY harbor.  If I understand correctly, that usually happens under the cover of night.  So, not sure if we'll be up at that hour.  Cruising into NY will be a first for us.  We usually enter or leave NYC over a bridge or through a tunnel.  

 

To be quite honest, this cruise was really planned as a relaxing way to end our European vacation rather than flying home.  It's been a very relaxing and luxurious time, but at this point, we're also looking forward to getting home.

[Pushpit]

3 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Thanks Eddie for the weather update!  We're having a great time and actually looking forward to the cruising into NY harbor.  If I understand correctly, that usually happens under the cover of night.  So, not sure if we'll be up at that hour.  Cruising into NY will be a first for us.  We usually enter or leave NYC over a bridge or through a tunnel.  

The captain will give the timings on the midday broadcast the day before arrival. Though this can vary if it's a busy day down there, but going under V. Bridge at 05:00 hrs isn't unusual. It's a bit of a crawl, so at 06:00 hrs you may still be doing the final turns into the quayside, which will give you good views of Manhattan, Staten Island and Lady Liberty herself. And it's frankly the only way to arrive in the USA.

[MylesS]

54 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

Really cool that you can observe the bridge on QM2.   They don't want you to take pictures, so I don't have any and I followed the rules.   But below is an information booklet that was available at the entrance to the viewing area. Really cool feature on QM2.  

 

QM2 Bridge & Navigation Information .pdf 2.13 MB · 4 downloads

Definitely a very unique feature of the ship, wish more would do it! 
 

Thank you for the booklet 🙂

[BigMac1953]

5 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

Could I please ask what was it that made it one of "worst examples of people carting things around"?

 

 

 

 

 

Do you mind if I ask which Cunard ships that you've travelled on?

[S1971]

22 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

Do you mind if I ask which Cunard ships that you've travelled on?

 

QV & QE

[BklynBoy8]

5 hours ago, Tattycoram said:

There are a few places in the northeast corridor where I've spent most of my life with giant meat, but I think they're either old-fashioned or, to me, almost absurdly macho steak houses like Mortons.  I'm a meat and fish eater, but I certainly expect about half my plate to be tasty vegetables.

 

We get the same thing at Peter Luger's in Brooklyn. Giant Steak with small plates (ala carte) with potatoes and cream spinach. No other veg's offered as extras. Yes before, the Tomato & Onion Salad and Mixed Green Salad. But no other veg's. Their famous sliced bacon, but another meat.

 

But we do adapt to it and enjoy it. But additional veg's, no veg's.

[BklynBoy8]

1 hour ago, Joe33472 said:

Thanks Eddie for the weather update!  We're having a great time and actually looking forward to the cruising into NY harbor.  If I understand correctly, that usually happens under the cover of night.  So, not sure if we'll be up at that hour.  Cruising into NY will be a first for us.  We usually enter or leave NYC over a bridge or through a tunnel.  

 

To be quite honest, this cruise was really planned as a relaxing way to end our European vacation rather than flying home.  It's been a very relaxing and luxurious time, but at this point, we're also looking forward to getting home.

 

Joe,

I understand your thoughts of meeting and saying "Hello" to NY seeing the Bridge around 430 - 5 with the start of a Beautiful Sunrise over Brooklyn. But we too see it a challenge when sailing at that time of day. Trying to get every minute the night before in before, Goodbye! 

 

Where we live by the Bridge, we could even jump off the ship several minutes before and swim to land where we live by it. I can remember the challenges of others coming out in chilly weather with blankets and hiding from the strong winds just to experience that entrance.

 

We too know what is at the end of a cruise, "Home, Sweet, Home"! But yes we will have to deal with the Post Cruise - Disembarkation process before heading home. For us, only 12 minutes to home..

 

But please savor every minute on the final days to come. 

[Millieloulou]

Please don’t miss sailing under the Verrazano Bridge, and seeing the Statue of Liberty.I know it’s early but it’s like a wonderful close to your voyage.Every time I always imagine what it must have been for the immigrants , at last knowing they had arrived after a horrendous journey.Now we arrive in 5 star luxury,well fed,and I’m sure most of us are looking forward to our next voyage.

[BigMac1953]

1 hour ago, S1971 said:

 

QV & QE

 Hi S1971

 

I guessed you haven't yet sailed on QM2.

 

The GLP is not the same, with the QM2  main TV situated at the corner of the bar, unlike the Vistas GLP's that have additional TV's.

 

It makes quite a difference

 

[Tattycoram]

32 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

We get the same thing at Peter Luger's in Brooklyn. Giant Steak with small plates (ala carte) with potatoes and cream spinach. No other veg's offered as extras. Yes before, the Tomato & Onion Salad and Mixed Green Salad. But no other veg's. Their famous sliced bacon, but another meat.

 

 

 

 

Yes!  My sisters used to live near Peter Luger's when they had just started working on Wall Street as lowly analysts (or some such).  They knew their bigwig bosses ate there, so once, when our parents were visiting, they took us all there for dinner.  (Well, they made the reservations--I'm sure my parents paid!).  My father looked amused, my mother slightly appalled.  I now occasionally see "Peter Luger's Creamed Spinach" for sale at a nearby supermarket, but it's vile and slimy, whereas at the restaurant it seemed quite tasty.  I rather enjoy going to such hypermasculine old-fashioned places every now and then, but almost as theater and only if someone else is paying.  

 

Random recollection:  My father once took me, at my request, to an old German chophouse in Boston called Jacob Wirth's.  It reminded me of something out of a Victorian novel, but as a 17-year-old girl I was a bit too anxious to go in on my own.    I wasn't quite the only woman in the joint, but almost. It met my expectations! Low banks of smoke filled the air, waiters with white tablecloths as aprons, and the special that day was . . . roast bones.  All the leftover bones from the week thus far were put into a roasting pan (with onions?).  Of course I ordered it.  .  I got a giant bowl of bones, and a marrow spoon.

 

(The novel it turned out to resemble almost exactly was E. Phillips Oppenheim's The Inevitable Millionaires.) 

[Winifred 22]

7 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

6 coffees for two people twice? seems rather excessive!!!, but knowing the Kings Court buffet coffee, I expect it was cold time she got it back so had to go twice 🙂

 

 

As for seats, surely they are first come first serve, they obviously got in early and bagged the best seats, can't see what the issue is to be honest.

 

I concentrate on my own enjoyment, not worry about what others are doing.

 

I have never found the coffee cold in Kings Court. 

[Tattycoram]

Oh no!

 

I just out of nostalgia looked up Jacob Wirth's!  It had closed for a bit (Covid?), but new owners were almost done renovating it and 2 days ago it burned down!  The picture shows the old placards on the front, but not the iconic (to me at any rate) clock sticking off the facade where my sisters and I would sometimes arrange to meet.

 

https://www.nbcboston.com/boston-business-journal/jacob-wirth-owner-heartbroken-over-fire-that-ravaged-building/3409608/

[BklynBoy8]

2 hours ago, Tattycoram said:

Random recollection:  My father once took me, at my request, to an old German chophouse in Boston called Jacob Wirth's. 

 

Tallecoram,

Talking about Old German Chophouses....How about restaurants, to name a few?

• Luchow's on 14th Street Manhattan (Closed)
• Niederstein Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village Qx (Closed)
• Zum Stammtisch in Glendale Queen (Very OPEN!)

 

I was blessed to have been introduced to many wonderful restaurants as a resident of NYC.

 

But First....I agree about the Creamed Spinach in Luger's bought outside. Never the same. But they try to share it with you. Also their package bacon not same as cooked on their stoves. Their bottled sauce, on the mark!

 

So much history in the NYC restaurant scene. Luchow's was wonderful first started as a Beer Garden on Horse Drawn 14th Street. We loved all their dishes. Especially DW & I German Pancake w Lingonberries.

 

Niederstein was another wonderful place to enjoy German Cuisine.

 

Zum Stammtisch still going strong. Love their Draught Beers from the Old Country and enjoy all the time their Jaegerschnitzel. Strudel a must after dinner.

 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

I sincerely hope Osman is onboard for our December sailing.  He really made our sailing special with his extra dishes.   We loved the Peking duck but you had to ask for it 48 hrs in advance.   He made something special for us almost every evening, we had a table of 6 or 8 as we were on a B2B2B.

[Joe33472]

Printed materials left in the stateroom this evening:

 

Day 6 Programme .pdf

 

Disembarkation Information.pdf

 

Our plan is to do the early self disembark option at 7:00 a.m. to 7:15 a.m.  I hope we're on time. Rather than order a car service or other transfer, I'm just going to use Uber or Lyft from the cruise port.

Edited Thursday at 11:53 PM by Joe33472

[Tattycoram]

44 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

Old German Chophouses

I don't know from German restaurants in Manhattan, but my father, when we would be in Manhattan dropping my grandmother off for a cruise, would take us all to Yorkville to Die Kleine Konditerei (my parents were both Austrian-ophiles--I don't know the word!)

 

I certainly loved reading memories of Yorkville, from the Marx Brothers on up/down!