…. Her Majesty the Queen has named a number of ships including Cunard Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth, and P&O Cruises Britannia. Movies stars are another popular choice with people like Helen Mirran for P&O Ventura, Sophia Loren for MSC, Joanna Lumley for Viking Odin and Julie Andrews for Crystal Serenity. The role is usually taken by women, but not exclusively. Godmothers usually bless and name the ship at extravagant red-carpet ceremonies desig…
…e, has cancelled Queen Elizabeth to March, Queen Victoria to May and Queen Mary 2 to April. Crystal Cruises has also similarly pushed back its voyages on its ocean-going fleet into March and April based on the ship. The ultra-luxury Regent Seven Seas, part of the Norwegian Cruise Group, has followed these two and also scrapped all departures through to April. Meanwhile, some lines have cancelled even further into 2021. This includes Silversea, the…
…to me a lack of confidence that they will resume Queen Victoria on 17 May, Queen Mary on 28 May and Queen Elizabeth from 4 June. To get the very latest on planned return dates, with the current dates by month by line and increasingly by ship for both ocean and river cruising click here Cruise Ports Latest Whilst many cruisers are focusing on the date that cruise lines are allowed to sail again, as important is also increasing amount of news on wha…
…ust tender guests, and this improves and speeds all that up. Crew of Queen Mary 2 Crossing The Line Ceremony Tipping point Another odd aspect about cruising and cruise ships is how gratuities, or tips if you prefer to call them, have changed over the last 15 years since I started cruising, from a discretionary reward I gave to selected crew members for great service, into a compulsory charge. I no longer am left to decide how much, and which crew…
…ness. We had booked excursions in virtually every port for all the time on Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth and appreciated this honesty. It made me actually even more inclined to use them. Day 34 (12 February) Honolulu, Hawaii Supreme Court Honolulu Visiting Hawaii was one of the destinations I was most eagerly looking forward to before setting off on the voyage. The romance of the exotic location and my love of the TV show “Hawaii Five-O” as a…
…nded in Hong Kong. Most of it on segments of Cunard World cruise, first on Queen Victoria and then Queen Elizabeth. This 12-part series covers the journey, experiences and tips – one for each week of the journey. This post covers week eleven, you can read the previous week ten here. Around-the-World Week 11 ( : Yokohama to Okinawa) Day 70 (20 March) Yokohama (for Tokyo) Sensōji Temple (Asakusa Kannon Temple) Tokyo, Japan Drawing the curtains this…
…ad some fancy personalised stationery to take home. As I was travelling in Queen’s Grill, you can ask for writing paper with your name and cabin number to be printed. Most cruises that I’ve been on have branded envelopes, writing paper, and postcards in the cabin, which you can take home without any issues. Partly because the cruise lines want us to be using those postcards to help promote them. Cable Tidies Another item I’ve had on previous cruis…
Tweet ———- There are quite a few books covering the Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2. So which one or ones to choose if you looking for one? For me, I look out for people with real passion versus just an academic interest in Cunard and their ships, and Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross are just this. Chris has run a popular website about Cunard and their ships for many years, and this is in fact how I first came across him. I was researching my first tr…
…s in time for QE2’s farewell season and started being sold aboard in August 2008. It has over 200 unique photographs taken by Rachelle and myself covering all areas of the ship including all public rooms, cabins, restaurants, lounges, bars, The Bridge, Engine Room, Stores and images of QE2 in ports around the world. The photographs are supported by narrative describing the rooms. The book was a great success and we were very fortunate to be aboard…
…iHerald.com Three years after it exploded onto the cruise scene, the Queen Mary 2 still reigns as one of the most talked-about ships ever built. Wherever it goes, the ship is often greeted not just by crowds of onlookers, but sometimes even with parades and fireworks. ”When we go into Hamburg, 500,000 people line the shore to see the ship, and we’ve been there five or six times. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Ben Lyons, the QM2’s first of…
…ransatlantic Crossing: The ultimate journey! 7 days at sea on Cunard Queen Mary 2 is a journey everyone should do! But a lot of people worry about being at sea for so long without any ports to stop at and get off. But this is the classic journey that everyone should do. It is amazing. It is very relaxing, with an incredible amount of things to do – and lots of dressing up. Repositioning transatlantic cruises are a good alternative, and very inexpe…
