The following morning after leaving the excitement of Cape Town behind Yo Yo and I had invited the new guests who had embarked in Cape Town to join us in the illuminations theatre. The reason for this was two fold one to meet the the new guests and welcome them on board and present a brief sales pitch and secondly give a presentation on the complications of the Cunard World club and the benefits of being promoted through the tiers.

We gave this presentation quite a few times through the world cruise which was always well attended and at least let the guests have visibility of YoYo and I.  For a world cruiser who could embark as a first time guest and disembark as a Platinum member having worked through all the tiers we would make sure this actually happened and that the guests got all the relevant benefits at the right time.

Our next port of call and final port in South Africa was Durban, the tour department on board were extremely busy as the demand for excursions here was extremely high and especially for those including a visit to agame reserve. I had offered to escort a tour and was delighted to have been allocated a tour to a reserve, my occasional donation of chocolate to the tour girls had obviously done the trick! So on arrival into Durban I collected my guests from the Royal Court theatre and lead them off the ship to our awaiting coach.

Durban City Hall

After a whistle stop tour of the city we had a good hour and a half journey to the game reserve but our local guide a lovely South African lady was very knowledgeable, funny and warm and friendly entertained us with all kinds of interesting information about her country and people.

On arrival at the reserve we were greeted by ice cold drinks and stood in the shade under a canopy of trees and just soaked up the peace and quiet of this very beautiful and natural setting. Eventually we were divided into groups of eight and boarded specially adapted covered jeeps for our tour around the reserve.  This reserve by the way did not have big cats but the following pics are of the animals I took on the day.

This really was an amazing day and one I will very grateful to Cunard for such an opportunity.

Next stop Mauritius and then Australia

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Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

Cape town was our next port of call so the closer we got the excitement grew! With such an iconic destination guests and crew had their own expectations and must see list.Having not visited South Africa before this again was a port I was very keen to see and as we were in port overnight I was pretty confident of going ashore.

Todd English

Cape Town marked the completion of our first leg of the world cruise so in effect was a turn around day for passengers disembarking and embarking.  One of our Cunard World club duties was to manage the priority disembarkation lounge offered to diamond and platinum members held in the Todd English restaurant. Guests are invited to relax here with Tea, coffee and pastries whilst waiting for their colour to be announced to allow disembarkation. As it was my turn in Cape Town and guests would start arriving from 07.30am so I was up early and out on deck to see our approach to Cape Town.

As I stepped out on deck I was not disappointed, what was almost a familiar picture now lay in front of me for real. Table Mountain a stunning back drop with Cape Town nestling below surrounded by bright blue clear skies and deep blue sea!

As I was busy that morning I had offered to escort an afternoon sightseeing tour of Cape Town. I collected my group from the Royal Court theatre at 01.30pm and made our way to the coach. As we disembarked I was quite surprised to find a ginormous marquee acting as the cruise terminal and all seemed to be pretty chaotic with guests arriving from the airport standing in long lines waiting to embark. Our transit through was pretty straight forward and we were off on our afternoon tour in no time.

Our tour included driving through Cape Town city centre with our local guide pointing out places of interest along the way but to be quite honest it just looked like any other big city. Our first stop however was the highlight of the afternoon when our coach arrived at the cable car station for our trip to the top of Table mountain. The cable car was a surprise as its circular in shape and once on board it revolves to allow every passenger a 360 degree view and it really is worth seeing.

 The views from the top were amazing not only of the vista but of the Queen Mary 2 also.

On our return to the ship we enjoyed a detour to see the more exclusive neighbourhoods with the expensive properties overlooking the ocean. We had a stop in Clifton to enjoy a walk on a rocky headland to absorb the view.

The next morning YoYo and I were busy with local travel agent tours of the Queen Mary two culminating with me dropping them off at the Britannia restaurant for lunch. Within minutes I was changed and off the ship as I wanted to explore the Waterfront prior to departing later that afternoon. The waterfront is a purpose built leisure complex with excellent shopping, a great variety of restaurants and  a Marina. I actually just loved the vibrant atmosphere as the street entertainment was superb and an outdoor stage  proved a great venue for a local rock band to entertain the tourists.

 I found a great spot to sit and listen to a group of older local singers and musicians who were literally having a great time and were so entertaining. The visitors like me were attracted to this merry band and many were literally dancing in the street!

I was back on board by 4pm as we had a very busy night ahead of us completing our Cunard World club duties for our new passengers including sending out the Gold, Diamond and Platinum pins and the coveted invites to the various cocktail parties.

Next Stop Durban and the chance to experience a safari

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Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

Once we left the excitement of Rio behind life began to slow and relax on board the QM2 as six sea days lay ahead prior to our arrival in Cape Town.

This was the first chance for the world cruise passengers to enjoy the facilities of the QM2 to the full and for those conscious of the ever increasing waistline a great opportunity to take part in some form of exercise. Apart from the equipment and various classes in the gym, swimming and tennis etc one of the most popular past times is walking. Deck 7 has a wrap around promenade to allow guests to circumnavigate the ship, 3 laps is equivalent to 1.1 miles. This video clip was made by a passenger whilst on our voyage from Rio to Cape Town. Click her to see a video of a passenger walking the promenade deck

When not eating or drinking if you don’t want to exercise, join in a craft workshop, listen to lecture, visit the Planetarium, attend a concert, visit the library, peruse the shops or just relax in your cabin watching a movie then you may find yourself getting bored. We in voyage sales were great to fill in a gap for 10 minutes or so and quite often found ourselves chatting with guests to pass their time. If we were quiet I loved this opportunity to sit with the guests & just chat and am amazed the things that people will share with  an almost complete stranger! (but that’s another blog)

Unfortunately when people do get bored they do like to find something to moan about and funnily enough our little voyage sales office was a magnet for these guests in fact on occasions I felt like putting a sign up “Complaints Department”. In most situations guests would just like to get it off their chest and with a little tea and sympathy all would be well. However this was obviously not always the case and thank goodness  the serious complaints were dealt with by the pursers desk.

On day two of our voyage to Cape Town we heard of a rumour that a number of guests were complaining that 6 sea days crossing the South Atlantic were just too much to bear and were canvassing guests to sign  a petition that would be presented to the Captain. Some bright spark had come up with the idea that the ship should sail off course and call into Tristan da Cunha to break up the journey. Well the guests thought it was a fantastic idea especially as this little island is known as the most isolated island on the planet.

Now you can imagine that the route of a world cruise is probably decided on years in advance and a Captain can’t change the schedule at the drop of a hat. However much to every ones surprise and delight Captain Wright decided that we could spare the time for a detour to circle Tristan da Cunha but the chance of people disembarking was out of the question. This decision was very well received by guests, staff and crew including me who thought at the time I would probably never cruise that way again.

So on the afternoon of our third day at sea the volcanic island of Tristan da Cunha rose majestically out of the sea on our horizon with it,s peak hidden in a blanket of cloud. It really is an amazing looking Island and something you can imagine seeing in fairy story or pirate adventure film.

Only approximately 300 residents live on the Island who are predominantly of British decent. The community live on a small flat area of the island know as Edinburgh where you can see the British flag flying above the collection of buildings. They have everything they need to survive including shops, a post-office and even a supermarket.

 They also live predominantly from fishing their surrounding waters and have contact with their nearest land mass South Africa 1750 miles away via fishing boats and the MS Saint Helena. This little ship makes an annual voyage to the island once a year in February and would you believe was in dock that afternoon the QM2 came to salute!

In 1961 the island suffered a volcanic eruption which forced the evacuation of the entire population via Cape Town back to England. They were housed at Calshot a Royal Air Force station near Southampton but could not settle. By 1963 the majority of the population had returned to their retreat on the Island.

The locals were very happy to see us also taking to their little motor boats to circle our great ship waving and cheering to all on deck. The locals even pulled up alongside and presented boxes of fresh lobster to Captain Wright, I was one of the lucky ones to sample the lobster at dinner that evening in the officers mess!

So all in all this turned out to be an amazing day that was not really expected, perhaps all on board should be grateful to that bored but bright spark that had the idea in the first place!

To see Cunard cruise deals please click here.

Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

I was so excited once we had left the Caribbean as our next three ports of call were in South America a destination I had always wanted to visit.

As a voyage sales specialist on board the Queen Mary our services were not in high demand on port days as most people were off the ship sight seeing. As there were two of us in the office we would agree between us what our opening hours would be and take it in turns to man the office. I was very lucky to have been working with Yoyo who had completed over 20 world cruises during her career with Cunard and had obviously been everywhere! She was very happy for me to see as much as possible when our schedule allowed. Part of our duties included escorting tours of the ship whilst in port for local travel agents, dignitaries, prospective clients and members of the press. So you can imagine how keen I was to fit in any sight seeing once the occasion arose.

Beatrix - QM2 Tour Manager

The tour office on board was responsible for managing the day excursions from the ship and were always extremely busy. There were approx 5 members of the team lead by Beatrix the tour manager all of them literally worked their socks off, in busy ports they could have 20 to 30 coaches of guest going in all directions to manage, for this reason they relied on volunteers from other departments on board to help out. I quite often found my self on the mike in the theatre announcing the tours and requesting the guest to follow a colleague waving a numbered paddle off the ship to board their coach. I offered also to actually escort tours where you joined the guests on the tour along with the guide to offer support, bring up the rear and be prepared for emergencies that may arise. This was obviously a great way to see the destination and one I took advantage of when ever possible.

Rio - A must to see!

Rio De Janeiro was a port I was desperate to see and was delighted to find all tours of the ship on this day were being managed by the port agents which left me free to see one of the most exciting cities on the Planet. I immediately put my name down to escort a full day excursion to see all the sights of Rio. For me Rio exceeded everyone of my expectations, flanked by gorgeous mountains, white-sand beaches and lush rainforests fronting deep blue sea Rio sits in one on the most spectacular settings of any city in the world.

Tack on one of the sexiest populations on the planet and you have an intoxicating tropical cocktail that leaves visitors punch-drunk on paradise. With the seductive sounds of the samba Rio’s residents know how to party this culminates in the frenzy of the annual Rio Carnival which is eventually judged in the Samba Drome.

Copacabana

I saw the world-famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.

We took the cog train to the tops of scenic outlook of Corcovado under the shadow of Christ the Redeemer

And enjoyed the cable cars to the summit of the Sugar loaf.

 During my time working for Cunard this will be one day I will always remember, such a fantastic vibrant and exciting destination to enjoy and one to put on your must see list!

Click here to see a Cruise.co.uk tailor made package which gives you the opportunity to enjoy Rio and the famous Carnival

or

To see Cunard cruise deals please click here.

Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

Once we had left Barbados we had a few days sailing ahead of us prior to our first port of call in South America. I believe the sea days are always the most relaxing on any cruise as you don’t have to dash off to sight sea, these are the days when it’s time to enjoy the ship and the facilities on board. The Queen Mary offers so much its actually difficult to choose and you can find your self trying to manipulate your day dashing from one event to another but not forgetting time to squeeze in lots of opportunities to eat of course. World cruisers have the luxury of time so don’t have to worry about cramming too much into any day and sitting on a deck lounger wrapped in a tartan rug on the promenade with a good book was a big favourite

Captain Wright leading the ceremony

One event that enticed guests away from their books takes place on the Pool terrace aft on deck 8, this is the Crossing the line ceremony which is held on the day a ship crosses the equator. This is a traditional ceremony held to commemorate the first time sailors (or passengers) crossing  the equator for the first time.

Entertainment director Ray Rouse as King Neptune

The ceremony is great fun and an opportunity for the senior officers, crew, staff and passengers to enjoy this special occasion. The entertainment team dress up as members of King Neptunes court, in this instance entertainment director Ray Rouse is dressed as King Neptune with mermaids in attendance of course. Guests and crew members volunteers to take part in the ceremony not really knowing whats in store for them! Prior to crossing the line sailors were known as Pollywogs and after know as shellbacks!

Well & truly gunged!

The Pollywogs have to que up to lie on a table to be smothered in gunge supplied by the galley. The entertainment team take it in turns to cover the Pollywogs from head to foot in this concoction encouraged by the cheers and laughter from the on lookers.

They then have to kiss the fish & jump into the pool to clean off!

All Pollywogs on board the ship officially became Shellbacks, however did not have to get gunged for the privilege!

A seagull taking a break on one of the equator red buoys

Following the ceremony the Officer of the Watch announced that we should all be on the look-out for the red buoys that mark the equator. You would have been amazed at the number of people who, with their cameras, began to line the rail but soon realised they  had been subject to some leg pulling!

Of course, following the ceremony the swimming pool was drained and cleaned and the deck area sanitized!

Next stop South America including the really amazing Rio!

To see Cunard cruise deals please click here. 

Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

Living on board the Queen Mary 2 was an amazing experience and one thing that I will treasure is the people I met on board as work colleagues but who became good friends. Their were only two of us in Voyage sales but we had a lot to do with many departments on board which soon widened my social circle. We had to walk through the entertainment office to get to ours as you can imagine this was always full of the most liveliest of characters with lots of fun and laughter. It was like the hub of the ship with musicians, entertainers, dance hosts, dancers and the cruise director and his team of course! For some reason the Foreign translators fell under this remit including the French, Spanish and German translators who all worked in this office.

Alex Vollmert the German translator soon became a great friend, a warm friendly and very well educated chap adored Cunard and everything the brand stood for. It was his ambition to work on board the Mary to experience the great Liner and improve his English, he had worked previously for the German chancellor Angela Merkel within the Bundestag. We introduced the eight o clock supper club where like minded individuals in other words people who enjoyed a good laugh met for dinner in the Officers mess. This included people of all nationalities and from all areas of the ship as follows The Spa manager, the head sommelier, the Library, the Translators, the entertainment team, head Housekeeper, Pursers desk and occasionally an officer from the bridge. One thing we did try at the dinner table was to improve Alex’s English and with much laughter I introduced him to some great English words he had never heard of. his favourite still is “gormless” Alex & his French counterpart would join the Commodore on the bridge at 12 midday to translate the noon announcement to the entire ship, this he felt was a great achievement and is most proud of!

Alex and I were most keen to see as much of the exciting ports during the world cruise as possible and we were fortunate enough to have roles that allowed us to do so. In barbados our first port of call after leaving Fort Lauderale I was content to visit the Boatyard a big favourite with staff and crew from all the many cruise ships that frequent the port.

It was a night club and bar complex on the beach within walking distance of the port. It offered a discounted entry for ship satff and was a great place to enjoy the beach and escape the ship for a few hours. Please click this link to discover the delights of the Boatyard.

Alex on the other hand wanted desperately to see another amazing icon of the travel world “Concorde” yes he had discovered that one of the British Concordes had found its resting place on Barbados and formed part of an exhibition. So off he set using the uncomfortable local buses to trek to Christchurch on the other side of the island to tick another ambition off his list. Please click this link to see more about the Barbados Concorde Experience.

He thoroughly enjoyed his visit there and claimed it was well worth the trip, I’m pretty sure also he would have taken many photo’s to add to his growing collection

Next stop South America but on the way celebrating “The crossing the line ceremony” on board the Queen Mary as she crosses the Equator to the southern hemisphere.

To see Cunard cruise deals please click here. 

Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

Wolrd cruise diary – Continued

Our first Port of call was Fort Lauderdale and as I had visited many times before I was not too excited and planned just to do a bit of shopping. Saw Grass mills is an excellent Designer Outlet mall on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale and a fantastic spot to buy designer labels at a fraction of the cost that we pay in the UK. Its also a good day out as it includes great eating and entertainment venues. Please see this link if you happen to find yourself in the vicinity http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=1262  I spent the morning here and returned to the ship for lunch & to watch some exciting activity on deck.

On the first morning on every voyage YoYo and I took it turns to attend the Senior Officers meeting hosted by the Hotel director David Stephenson who by the way is a real character and his meetings were always lively with plenty of laughter! These meetings were always well attended as all and sundry was discussed that affected the current voyage. We always had some input as you can imagine the number of guests we invited to the World Club cocktail parties which could be anything upto 800 guests per occasion had a massive knock on effect to many departments on board.

At these meeting though it was a real eye opener listening to the heads of departments sharing their ideas and concerns for the days ahead. One problem that kept raising its ugly head was the problem with her engines. The QM2 can travel at a maximum speed of 30 knots but to achieve this the ship does rely on the combined efforts of her diesel electric engines and gas turbines that act as boosters if you like. The gas turbines had been suffering from intermittent faults affecting the Queen Marys full speed capability so Miami had dictated the gas turbines were to remain out of service until being fully replaced. Captain Wright and the senior offices were very concerned that the Queen Mary travelling in the low 20’s would most certainly not be able to keep upto the gruelling schedule of a world cruise. Obviously cruising at a lower speed would mean possible loss of ports with serious consequences not to mention the disgruntled passengers!

This engine problem had been grumbling for many months prior to the start of the world cruise so when the news came through that the gas turbines would be replaced in Fort Lauderdale the first port of call after leaving New York there was a massive sigh of relief on board. This was why I had decided to pop out in the morning back in time to open the office for the afternoon but hopefully be able to catch a glimpse of the turbines being craned onto the ship!

I managed to get on deck for about for about 4.30pm, it was a lovely warm afternoon in Fort Lauderdale with the port crammed with cruise ships. I obviously took my camera with me and took these following shots

I don’t know about you but I was surprised that the gas turbine engines actually sit right up on top of the ship next to the funnel but here this engine was about to be lowered into its home on board. We did not leave Fort Lauderdale until late that evening but the residents of the apartments at the exit from the port were on standby to give the QM2 a their customary send off of hooters, bells, whistles and flashing lights for her world cruise ahead. I’m sure the engineers on board were working through the night to get the engines up and running but their efforts obviously did the trick as the liner glided through the rest of the voyage on schedule.

To see Cunard cruise deals please click here.

Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk

This time last year I was fortunate enough to be on board the Queen Mary Two as a Voyage sales Specialist and was quite excited as the start of the 2011 world cruise was imminent. I had the prospect of seeing such wonderful destinations as Rio, Cape town, Sydney, Auckland, Nagasaki, Beijing, Hong Kong and may more besides. Over the next few weeks I’d like to relive this amazing voyage and share this once in a life time experience with you.

My wife Susie flew out to join me in New York on the 3^rd Jan for the last round trip Caribbean voyage prior to the start of the world cruise on the 13^th Jan. This was perfect timing as I had not seen her since a turn around day in Southampton in the November and would not be home until the end of March. It’s funny as I was waiting outside the Brooklyn cruise terminal for Sue’s taxi to arrive I found myself standing next to John and Pauline Prescott who had spent Christmas on board, dare I say she was lovely but he was a miserable old so & so!  It was great having Susie on board as I was allowed to join her and enjoy all the facilities on board the QM2 when not working of course! One night Captain Wright invited us both to dinner at his table this was a honour and a memory we will always treasure. Those 10 days literally flew by and in no time at all we had to say our goodbyes.

That first day although there was an air of excitement on board but there was also a feeling of panic as every department had to be ready to serve their guests for the next four months. We in Voyage Sales not only had the responsibility of being open to sell future voyages but we were also responsible for managing the Cunard World Club on board. As guests moved from tier to tier whilst enjoying their world cruise we had to be in a position to track each individuals progress and acknowledge there promotions by awarding the correct pins and delivering the sought after invitations to the Cocktail and Senior Officers parties. This was quite a complicated exercise but my colleague YoYo had developed whilst on leave may I add a very sophisticated spread sheet that helped us tremendously! You can also imagine the amount of deliveries that were made to the ship that day with the majority being food and beverage of course, by the time we left we must have been bulging at the seems!

That evening when the Queen Mary Two slipped away from her berth she sailed up the Hudson towards Manhattan to join her sister Queens the new Elizabeth and Victoria. This really was a spectacular occasion as it was the first time the three Queens had been altogether and with such a spectacular backdrop of fireworks and the Manhattan skyline. Please page down to my first blog to read more on this amazing occasion.

The following day our guests began settling in for the long voyage ahead, I was truly amazed on the amount of past guests that popped into our office to say hello. I was even more amazed on how many guests returned year after year to complete the full voyage. It was like a very exclusive club, all knowing one another and all determined to find out who was on board, who was missing and to find out the latest gossip! These guests had been around the globe so may times I don’t think they minded where the ship went, they were just so pleased to be back on board!

I met some wonderful and interesting people on board the Queen Mary two, from the rich & famous to working class, from the extravagant & exuberant to the most boring, from the demanding & aggressive to the sweetest & lovable. To add to the mix these people also hailed from all corners of the world so the combination for me was the like never seen before. On the world cruise purely because of the duration you do get to know a good percentage of the guests and I would like to introduce you to some of them during this World cruise diary.

Please tune in next week as I want to touch on the engine problem that promised to obliterate the world cruise schedule

To see Cunard cruise deals please click here. 

Please feel free to contact me on 0800 408 6069 to discuss your individual cruise requirements

e-mail – phild@cruise.co.uk