Malcolm's diary of QE2's final world cruise.

[Malcolm]

It really does show that I don't like him doesn't it?)

Re David Pepper.  He was just awful.  An embarassment.

Wow! I'm pleased that I wasn't the only one who doesn't like him

I can't help but wonder what he's like on the QM2. He can't be as bad as he was on the QE2 because they still employ him.

[cunardqueen]

He made it quite clear that being on board QE2, you were on the 2nd best ship,

The man is clearly and utterly mad

[Malcolm]

The man is clearly and utterly mad

Unfortunately he's not mad. Mad would be understandable (if not forgiveable ). He is just wrong. He shows far too bigger sense of self worth and ignores anything that doesn't directly contribute to the "David Pepper is Fantastic Club". He is arrogant, over opinionated and boorish.

[Malcolm]

Enough of David Pepper (for the moment ). He leaves in Barbados so we'll be shot of him soon Two days of journals today - NYD was a very short entry so I've included the 2^nd of January as well.

[Malcolm]

New Year's Day - nothing much happened. Breakfast (good), checked emails, read on deck, snoozed on deck, went swimming, that's about it for the daytime.

This evening was our Senior Officers' Party. Everyone was at the one party in the Queens Room rather than the three separate parties they'd held in the past. This was an excellent solution to the problems caused by holding a party at the Funnel Bar. Previously the Senior Officers' Party has been no more than an excuse for a free drink; this time it was an opportunity to meet and talk with fellow passengers and was an enjoyable party.

One thing we have noticed this trip is the number of young kids that are running about screaming with nobody apparently in control. This has been particularly obvious on some evenings but a couple of times this afternoon there's been the sound of screaming kids going past our cabin.

[Malcolm]

There isn't a lot I can write about days at sea. You have breakfast, read, walk on deck, snooze, that kind of thing.

One thing I want to point out is that I have never has Athlete's Foot up until this trip. The day before yesterday I started to get an itch between the toes on my left foot. The only place I have been barefooted outside the cabin is the Seven Deck pool. Am I right to think it came from there? I can get a cream to treat it but for that I need to go to the Doctor and incur a 60 USD charge plus the cost of the cream. I have refused to spend that and have found that Savlon has eased the itching so I will wait until I return to Southampton and go to Boots!

A second comment on swimming - don't wear white swimming trunks! The pools are salt water and leave a brown deposit in anything white. If you're only swimming once or twice it won't show but after half a dozen times it becomes noticeable and after ten the trunks become embarrassing to wear! Coloured trunks are OK, they don't show the discolouration from the water - at least I'm assuming it's the water!

Having said there was not much I wanted to say I seem to be managing to write enough! According to all the documentation we've received form Cunard up until last night tonight should have been formal. When we got today's programme the dress for this evening is given as "semi-formal". How disappointing - I don't see any difference between putting on a dinner suit or a lounge suit. As you know I'd far rather have the formal evenings.

Another thing happened this evening just before we went to bed. We were sitting outside the Yacht Club talking with a group of fellow passengers when the propellers started to make a loud vibrating sound - the kind of sound she makes when she is slowing down. On the way to our cabin there was an emergency announcement for an "assessment party" to proceed to the forward engine room on deck 8. When we got back to the cabin and looked at the TV our speed had dropped to a little over 8 knots. About ten minutes later the assessment party was told to stand down and we speeded up to 26 knots again. There hasn't been any explanation of what caused it. [And we never found out]

[Malcolm]

Madeira today. After so many days at sea it will be nice to have a day in port. This part of the trip has passed so quickly that it's hard to believe that most people will be getting off in three days time.

Paul and I started with breakfast in the restaurant. The food was of the expected high standard as was the service. The only criticism I would levy is that Paul's Eggs Benedict arrive a good five minutes before my French Toast. This means that either Paul waits until mine arrives, resulting in hard eggs or he eats his straight away resulting in runny eggs but he has finished them by the time my breakfast arrives.

We have been to Madeira several times before and have seen all the major sites of Funchal, have done the usual taxi tour, etc so this time we decided we'd like to visit Madeira's second town of Machico.

We got a taxi from the ship to Machico for €45.00. Our guidebook describes it as "little more than an overgrown village" and it is right. However we still managed to spend three hours wandering the streets, stopping for a coffee, visiting the various churches, walking along the sea front, etc.

Machico is big enough to have its own taxi rank and it wasn't difficult to pick up a cab to take us further east on the island. He first took us up to Pico Do Facho to a point where most tourists don't get but there are fantastic views west, back to Machico and the airport (built on stilts over the sea Madeira Airport classifies as a tourist attraction), and east, to the whaling town of Caniçal and the coastline beyond. From there the driver took us to the easternmost tip of the island (picturesque and again hardly any tourists) before returning us to Funchal. For that he charged €47.00.

We arrived back at the ship at about 3-30pm - just in time to drop off our cameras, collect our books and make our way to the Funnel Bar for afternoon tea. I used my time up there to finish off yesterday’s report, reply to a few emails and just relax. Whilst I was typing the emails Paul commented that I should point out that the drinks you get on the package are not the same as those you get if you buy individual drinks. You get a smaller glass and you don't get given the remainder of the can - that is kept for the next "free" drink. You can avoid these smaller glasses for the first few days by ordering your drink at the bar and not telling the bar man that it is an inclusive drink until he's poured it, likewise they only have one size of plastic tumbler so if you order a drink on deck you'll get a normal measure. That said I would still strongly recommend the soft drinks package as a way of reducing your bar bill.

Once we had sailed from Madeira the Captain came on the tannoy warning that we were going to run into bad weather, advising us to make sure that anything breakable was put on the cabin floor and telling us that room service could provide dinner if we didn't want to risk the restaurant. We went to the Restaurant anyway where it was beef again. The number of cows they've got through on this trip must be mind boggling!

As dinner went on the weather did get worse. The boat has started to bounce about a bit. We went up to the Pavilion, meaning to go on deck for some air, and could hardly stand. I think we're in for a rough night, although not as rough as I hope we'll get enroute to New York. Unfortunately my parents have gone to bed early and Paul doesn't feel like doing anything either so that's why I'm sitting in the cabin writing this at 11-00 at night.

[Malcolm]

This morning was very rough. THE alarm rang at 6-30am for me to go to the gym; I staggered across the cabin to the bathroom and then back to the bed and decided that I wouldn't be able to make deck 7 this morning and went back to bed!

The morning started properly with breakfast in the restaurant. Again it was with no problems. The quality of breakfast normally ranges from good to excellent however there are more than just the occasional days when it ranges from poor to unacceptable.

On the Heritage Tour at the beginning of the cruise Gaynor had said that she was putting together a pictographic tour for those who could not manage to walk round the ship for an hour and a half. This morning was the debut of her pictographic tour in the Theatre. It was very good - almost as good as being there on a small tour and far better than being on a crowded tour. [This is the tour that was sold on DVD where it was really disappointing] Thomas is back on from Southampton; if he continues it I would recommend anyone who can't manage the walking tour to go to one of the static events.

After that there was time for a quick glass of lemonade in the Chart Room before it was time to attend Gavin & Sandra (Fifer's) cocktail party. It was my first time in a cabin on Signal Deck (I've been in those on sun deck before); it was also the first time I've ever set foot on a balcony on the QE2 (small things please small minds) so I was looking forward to it. Gavin and Sandra didn't stint on the Champagne (it was champagne and not PA) they had on offer or any of the myriad of other drinks they also had available. After the party Paul and I got back to our cabin and fell asleep.

I woke up about 5-00pm and set off down to the pool on 7 Deck. On my way there I met someone else who had been at the party; they told me that the pool had been drained due to the bad weather. I suppose it had been quite choppy this morning, it was when we got to Gavin and Sandra's party but we didn't really notice after that! So I gave up the idea of swimming.

As Paul was still asleep I decided to visit the pursers and try to find out how we were being moved the day after tomorrow. The girl I spoke to was less than helpful (she was one of the people I'd spoken to about the shower that still isn't working properly but we've just had to give up on it). She told me that we should have received a letter telling us what was happening. When I said that we hadn't she replied that, in that case, they couldn't have been sent out yet. I asked her to check if the letters had been sent out and she refused saying that we should wait until tomorrow. Why do I have little faith that we will get a letter tomorrow? I should add that yesterday evening the Maitre D' of the Britannia Grill found us and personally confirmed details of our onwards restaurant reservation.

[HappyScot, a member of CC posted a message about my athlete’s foot] Message to HappyScot - I am aware that they are a "life form". As fungus is one of the more delicate items served in the grills I'm wondering if it couldn't be used to garnish the cat cassoulette I'm planning for next week! [The cat was a long running joke on CC. Basically I threaten to eat the cat and it threatens all sorts of nasty things to me]

Dinner - what a disaster! The first problem that occurred was David Pepper. In the morning he made a very long winded announcement about how the bad weather would affect that morning's activities. He went into great (and confusing) detail about how the cooking demonstration was cancelled yet the putting on deck wasn't. After several minutes he stopped - until after lunch. This time the people in our party just increased their volume to talk over him. He made a third announcement that afternoon which we slept through! Apparently it involved his changing the dress code for this evening. He ended up with about half the passengers dressed formally, half dressed informally and about ten wandering about in jeans and a T shirt!

Then there was dinner itself. I started with melted cheese straws coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. They arrived cold and solid and they only tasted of grease and deep frying. I left most of it.

Then I had Apple Cinnamon Soup. This was a chilled soup. It looked like dishwater. It tasted like luke warm dishwater with some powdered Cinnamon added. I left it all.

Then, guess what? Beef again! This time in the guise of a Beef Wellington. I like Beef Wellington; it turned out to be quite a nice Beef Wellington; it’s just when it's beef every night you get a bit fed up with beef!

Pudding was an apricot tart with a vanilla parfait. The parfait had almost entirely melted which was just as well because the tart was so dry that it desperately needed some kind of sauce.

By the time coffee came I was still hungry! Conversely Paul had a salad instead of the soup and a chocolate Marquise for pudding - both of which were very nice and meant that, overall, it was a good meal. As I've said there is no consistent standard.

The daily programme listed tonight as a Gala Buffet and as I was still hungry from dinner we went along for a snack. We turned up but there was no Gala Buffet, just the normal light snack. Last Christmas I remember commenting that there was a Gala Buffet and they didn't tell anyone. They've made up for it this year by telling everyone and then not having one!

[Malcolm]

We got our letter this morning saying how we should change cabins; we need to pack everything from the draws, shelves, etc into our bags and those bags, together with our clothes on hangers will be moved to our new cabin. We're off to the purser soon to get new ID cards and find out where we eat lunch tomorrow. Once we've done that it's off to the cabin to start packing It really doesn't seem as if we've been on three weeks already.

David Pepper was on the TV again this morning going into very confusing details of what to expect on our arrival in Southampton. He went to great pains that, or our end of voyage questionnaire, we should not mark an entire department down because of two or three mistakes. He sounded as if he was expecting a lot of adverse comments about the Cruise Staff.

We've certainly left the good weather behind for the moment. The crowds that are normally hogging the area around One Deck pool, the decks up from there and the Sun Deck have all come inside now and are filling the bars. All of the public rooms have become like a rather crowded departure lounge. It took half an hour from the bar opening for a waiter to come and ask if we wanted a drink and a further ten minutes for them to arrive.

Dinner was OK. Not the worst but equally not the best by far. The ship seems very much to be a ship of people waiting to get off. This evening and tomorrow morning are times I would quite happily miss.

We went to the pursers to try and get new ID cards. They issued cards but only as far as New York, claiming that, as the programme might change, they couldn't issue them any further (odd that we'd just spoken top another couple on the WC who had been told that cards couldn't be issued until tomorrow). As we were to be cabinless for several hours tomorrow they were also able to provide us with secure storage for our valuables.

[Malcolm]

I've always said that I would give up my last day of a cruise to avoid that final morning. Disembarking is a horrible and time consuming process. That said the last day of the Caribbean section of our trip was not good either. Almost everyone was just hanging about waiting to get off. We felt that we were just waiting for the cruise proper to begin.

[Malcolm]

As the 5^th was such an unplesant day I'll go onto the 6^th straight away. The feeling of being on the ship when almost all the passengers are changing is weird. I can't think of any other way of describing it. When the ship sets off the feeling continues - you are already at home on the ship whereas most of the other people are still finding their feet.

[Malcolm]

Today was surreal. We were arriving in Southampton as "in-transit" passengers when almost everyone else was getting off. Breakfast was still the same reduced menu and it still finished at 9-00am but we didn't have that feeling of having to race through the meal and get off. We didn't go to breakfast until 8-30am and had a leisurely meal whilst the rest of the ship filled up with people carrying luggage.

After Breakfast we put the last remaining things in the cases (Cunard would move things on coat hangers but everything else had to be packed for the cabin change) and prepared to leave the cabin.

My parents, who were not going ashore, went to the World Club disembarkation lounge in the Yacht Club. The only difference they saw from the rest of the ship was that to offer to bring you coffee (although no coffee actually arrived). [This was the only time I’ve ever seen the lounge in action - every other occasion there’s always been a message saying that there are too many people for it to function]

Paul and I wanted to go into Southampton to buy a few things that we'd forgotten. Before they were calling people to disembark we went to the Midships Lobby to be told that we couldn't wait there. We explained that we were "in-transit" and were ushered through the barriers to get off the ship past all the other people who were waiting. We got a taxi (there wasn't a passenger shuttle in operation) into Southampton and spent a very cold hour waiting for the shops to open. I've never spent much time in the centre there; it's always been a place we've passed through. Having wandered round the shops there it is quite a nice shopping centre.

On our way to get a taxi back to the boat we bumped into the couple from the previous evening who had now managed to get an ID card that would last their whole trip. They told us that they had come in by crew shuttle and were intending to get it back. We joined them and got a free transfer back to the ship!

Going into the QEII terminal was very odd. You're first greeted by the woman giving out Norovirus forms who didn't like it when we refuse to fill one in; then the woman who sorts out priority and non-priority embarkation. She didn’t like the fact that we want to go straight onto the ship! In fact the only place we didn't have trouble was leaving the departure lounge and walking up to the gangway - nobody tried to stop us!

From there it was back onto the ship; a ghost ship - there weren't any passengers about to get in the way. We had been told that we should go to the pursers office on our return and get them to unlock our new cabin. We did - except when the purserette took us to the cabin we found it open and with no luggage. It took a further 40 minutes for the luggage to turn up.

The new cabin seems a lot bigger than the previous one, although in reality it's only about 45 sq ft bigger. We have a dressing table running the full length of the side of the ship. It has four very large draws, a medium draw and three small draws under it and the TV, ice, fruit, flowers, etc on it. There is also an illuminated mirror above it. In front of that we have two chairs, a table and a stool. Behind them is the bed with a large chest of draws on either side. There is then a door (we are normally leaving this open) that will close off the cabin from the hallway which had a small coat cupboard containing the fridge, the walk-in wardrobe and the bathroom off it. The bathroom is of the original, only partly refurbished style. The basin, toilet and showerhead are all new although the bath and walls are original. I like the original fittings although there is not as much light as there in with the refurbished rooms.

Once our luggage finally arrived there was time to unpack it and drink the complimentary bottle of Champagne we'd got from David Hamilton (Hotel Manager). By then it was 2-30pm and time for afternoon tea.

At sailaway time it was all on deck for the fireworks as Vicky set off.  I had caught a brief glimpse of her from a shopping centre in Southampton but this was the first time I had seen her without obstruction. Although it was dark her "chimney pots" were very visible and her very steeply raked cabins up to her bow.

Before the fireworks we had an address from Carole Marlow (I assume it was recorded as I haven't seen her since) and an address from Captain McNaught that would have convinced anyone who might still be in doubt which was the best ship. Then the fireworks, the display lasted for ten minutes and was really only mediocre. Had it been twice as many fireworks per minute and only lasted for five minutes I feel that it would have been much better.

We were told by a couple of people that there was to be a party for people doing the full World Cruise this afternoon in the Yacht Club. They weren't sure what time it was and thought it wisest to check with the pursers. There we were assured that the Yacht Club would be closed and that no parties World Cruise, Private or otherwise were being held there. They insisted that the first party of any kind would be the Captain's party the next night. I told the pursers that I didn't believe them although as I had no way of finding out we had to give up on the idea of the reception. The girl we spoke to looked hurt when I said I didn't believe them. When we met Leone after dinner. She confirmed that there had been a party, it was in the Yacht Club and it was for full cruise passengers. Was I wrong to tell the pursers I didn't believe them?

It was the first CC meeting of the WCC in the Chart Room this evening. I have debated what to write; I am definitely not going to mention names as Paul and I attended, met Babette and got talking and ended up missing most of the others there. After dinner was more of an event. Paul and I wandered through the Crystal Bar to see if anyone was there and were greeted by a cry of "Malcolm" in an Australian accent. It was Leone. We hugged and made a great fuss of each other although we had not previously met. Paul was quite embarrassed by my hugging strange Australian women!

Shortly after that Matthew, Babette and their party turned up. Ten Jon, Kyle & Doug arrived to form the more "transatlantic" side of the party. (I said I wouldn't start mentioning names because I'm sure I'm going to miss someone out - Beth, I've not forgotten you but I know I'm missing a lot of other people).

Maybe this is a point there I could mention how young Doug is. As Host Doug I'd thought he was middle-aged when he can't really be out of his teens! (Doug - If I don't tell you beforehand please accept my apologies for staring).

The arrival of Mark & Steve and Gavin helped to bolster the European contingent and Paul and I spent far longer than we intended in the Crystal Bar this evening. I thank Paul for bearing with me. He must have been very bored because he didn't know who any of these people were!

[Malcolm]

This is our first day of the World Cruise proper. We are travelling slowly and, although I don't make much of it) Vicky is struggling by our side to keep up. There were wonderful pictures circulating aboard QE2 of Vicky with her bow totally submerged in white water and showing that ship at some very odd angles

[Malcolm]

We didn't do much today. In fact I wonder why it is that I've got so far behind in writing up events - I've just finished yesterday and it's tomorrow afternoon already - so if I manage to keep this short I might manage to start on tomorrow's whilst it's still today!

The morning consisted of going to the gym, having breakfast and a trip to the Launderette. We also made a partial discovery - the World Club Lounge. This is in the Boardroom and offers free tea/coffee/soft drinks/pastries for everyone on the full world cruise. It also offers a concierge to help out with any problems on board, advice on ports and timings, etc. She was very quickly able to sort out why we hadn't got invites to the party and the lounge and even why we weren't on the list for full world cruisers. It was really quite simple: details were only sent to those who were embarking on the 6th January and not to those few who were already onboard.[This was a problem the pursers office did not seem able to grasp and reoccurred repeatedly throughout the trip]

One other advantage of the lounge is the stewardess. It is Rowena; she had been our waitress in the Caronia for Christmas 2006 and we had seen her on occasions this Christmas and said hello. I think she was as surprised as us at our meeting her there. We were delighted that she will be with us throughout the entire trip.

There is nothing I can write about the launderette today. When we got there it was empty and there were about four people in the ironing room when we left. All I can conclude it that the day after sailing is a good time to do your washing!

In the afternoon I did the Heritage Trail again. It was different from the last times I've done it, with Gail or with Thomas. We got to go to different places and see different things. It also differed from Gail's tour in one other important respect - there were about 100 people on it in rough weather opposed to the half dozen she had.

The weather is quite bad. Whilst we can see the Victoria she is keeping a fair distance away. The concierge in the world cruise lounge has a wonderful (for those not on her) picture of the Vicky with her bow completely under water. She looks to be having a much rougher ride than us.

It was our Captain's Cocktail Party this evening and I wore that bow tie and cummerbund. Matthew got his picture and I trust that he's already posted it somewhere on the site. Now all I need to do is see him for the cost of the tie and the Champagne.

As it's been a fairly quiet day I'll comment on the differences I've noticed between dining in the grills and dining in one of the restaurants aboard. I think a lot depends on the quality of the server you get in the restaurant and where abouts in the restaurant you are. I can't comment on the food and service in either the Mauritania Restaurant or the Queens Grill as they have separate kitchens but as I have recently eaten in the Princess and Britannia Grills and the Caronia Restaurant share galleys and I have eaten in all three recently I feel able to comment.

For Christmas 2006 we had Rowena as one of our waiting staff and a table about halfway down the Caronia Restaurant. We felt that both the quality of food and the service was better than we'd had in the Princess Grill the year before. This year we were sitting at the back of the Caronia Restaurant and found the service not so good, the food often arrived lukewarm or cold and not necessarily cooked to our liking. Whereas, in the Britannia Grill the service has been good, the food has always arrived hot and cooked as required.

The second benefit of being in a grill is the cabin. This is a much more important benefit. You get a much larger cabin with plenty of space. Although there was plenty of space to store all our seven cases in our C2 some could not be fully unpacked and items that would not be needed every day had to be kept packed away. In our P2 we have two chairs (rather than the one in the C2); we will sit in our cabin rather than sitting in a bar or lounge. The bigger and more comfortable cabin means that we are far more likely to spend time there. You also get your sheets changed every day instead of every three days - very useful if you're in the habit of going to bed after mud wrestling and before showering ?

The third benefit is the snob value! As nobody else on the ship knows what cabin you're in I don't see it as that important.

Is being in a grill on the QE2 worth the extra? Personally I don’t think so - on a short (1 to 3 weeks) trip I think you can get far more for your money by spending it elsewhere. On a longer trip I think that the benefits of being in a grill will become more apparent [By the end of the trip my opinions have changed – we booked Grill cabins for our next voyage] but I still think that, had I got to find an extra £26,000.00 to do this trip in one of the grills I wouldn't have gone [I still feel that as well!]. I will do my best to make sure that I get a decent waiter and table in the Caronia for my next trip.

[highlander0108]

January 7, 2008 view of Queen Victoria as taken from Boat Deck on QE2.  We saw alot of the bulbous bow on day one of the crossing. Notice the water pouring out of the bow thruster locations.  QV does not have thruster doors, another factor to limit her speed.  There were times where you could see daylight through them.   I have to admit, after spending some time in the Computer Center, I needed a bit of air too, but I loved every minute of the rougher seas.  There were a few times where I felt like I was on a rollercoaster that morning in that room.



Thanks for reposting this Malcolm.  It was at this time in the crossing that I had not met many of the WCC people.  We missed the initial meeting, having gotten completely caught up in the moment of finally getting back on the ship and experiencing a winter crossing.