This week, Beyondships continues its behind-the-scenes look at the workings of Queen Mary 2 with two interviews.
The first is with Entertainment Director Paul O’Loughlin. Paul is relatively new to QM2 but is no novice to the world of cruise ship programming. He has been a cruise director for 30 years on some 27 ships including many of the major P&O and Princess ships. Considering the prestige of Queen Mary 2, one would expect that anyone assuming such an important would be highly qualified.
The Entertainment Director is in charge of the programming for the ship - - all of the entertainment including production shows, musicians, movies, and visiting entertainers as well as all of the activities ranging from guest lecturers to trivia contests. He also acts as the primary interface between the passengers and the ship’s management, introducing performers, hosting parties and receptions and appearing on the onboard television. It is a highly visible position.
On most ships, this position is called cruise director. However, considering the type of experience that Cunard seeks to present with Queen Mary 2 that title does not really seem appropriate. Indeed, having sailed with Paul on Emerald Princess, which is a very nice up-market cruise ship, I can see a difference between what he did there and what he does on QM2.
My conversation with Paul is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Oloughlin.html
The second interview posted this week is with Jamie Firth, the maitre d’ hotel of the Britannia Restaurant on QM2. Cunard regulars will remember Jamie from Queen Elizabeth 2 where he was a mainstay in the restaurant operation for years.
Jamie is in charge of the largest and most spectacular dining room on QM2. Since he is a very articulate person, I thought it would be good if he described the dining system on Queen Mary 2, the Britannia Restaurant’s place in that system and the mechanics of the restaurant’s operation. Accordingly, Jamie talks about what the restaurant is all about and such topics as how tables are assigned, the various duties of the restaurant staff (more than one would think) and what happens after a passenger gives his or her order to a waiter.
My interview with Jamie Firth appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Firth.html
Cunard also featured in the cruise ship news this week. On 23 November, the name Queen Elizabeth was welded onto the new Cunarder now being built by Fincantieri near Trieste in Italy. The new ship will join the Cunard fleet in October 2010. Meanwhile, Cunard came in first in the large cruise line category ahead of 22 other lines in a survey of travelers conducted by Zaggat’s.
Another Fincantieri ship, the Costa Deliziosa (92,600-tons) successfully completed her sea trials on 15 November. She is currently being fitted out at Fincantieri’s Marghera (Venice) shipyard and will be delivered on January 29, 2010.
While much attention was being paid to Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas’s arrival in the United States, her sister ship Allure of the Seas was floated out of her building dock at the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland.
Tahitian Princess is currently in drydock in Singapore being transformed into the Ocean Princess. Progress on the transformation can be followed on the Princess.com website.
Also in drydock, is Holland America’s flagship Rotterdam. I was able to take the attached photo of her during a port call in Freeport, Grand Bahamas last week.
The call in Freeport was on the new Carnival Dream. The Dream, sailing out of New York, was making the same port calls as fleetmate Carnival Pride, which was sailing out of Baltimore. As a result, the two ships formed a Fun Ship Flotilla, which included the two ships maneuvering closely around each other at sea in a similar fashion as when Queen Mary 2 and QE2 made tandem crossings. Dream was also accompanied for a time by the newly-commissioned USS New York (LPD 21).
NCL’s Norwegian Dawn experienced a power failure during a Caribbean cruise, which made her divert to San Juan, Puerto Rico for repairs rather than return to Miami where the cruise had begun. Dawn’s next cruise also had to be cancelled.
The first is with Entertainment Director Paul O’Loughlin. Paul is relatively new to QM2 but is no novice to the world of cruise ship programming. He has been a cruise director for 30 years on some 27 ships including many of the major P&O and Princess ships. Considering the prestige of Queen Mary 2, one would expect that anyone assuming such an important would be highly qualified.
The Entertainment Director is in charge of the programming for the ship - - all of the entertainment including production shows, musicians, movies, and visiting entertainers as well as all of the activities ranging from guest lecturers to trivia contests. He also acts as the primary interface between the passengers and the ship’s management, introducing performers, hosting parties and receptions and appearing on the onboard television. It is a highly visible position.
On most ships, this position is called cruise director. However, considering the type of experience that Cunard seeks to present with Queen Mary 2 that title does not really seem appropriate. Indeed, having sailed with Paul on Emerald Princess, which is a very nice up-market cruise ship, I can see a difference between what he did there and what he does on QM2.
My conversation with Paul is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Oloughlin.html
The second interview posted this week is with Jamie Firth, the maitre d’ hotel of the Britannia Restaurant on QM2. Cunard regulars will remember Jamie from Queen Elizabeth 2 where he was a mainstay in the restaurant operation for years.
Jamie is in charge of the largest and most spectacular dining room on QM2. Since he is a very articulate person, I thought it would be good if he described the dining system on Queen Mary 2, the Britannia Restaurant’s place in that system and the mechanics of the restaurant’s operation. Accordingly, Jamie talks about what the restaurant is all about and such topics as how tables are assigned, the various duties of the restaurant staff (more than one would think) and what happens after a passenger gives his or her order to a waiter.
My interview with Jamie Firth appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Firth.html
Cunard also featured in the cruise ship news this week. On 23 November, the name Queen Elizabeth was welded onto the new Cunarder now being built by Fincantieri near Trieste in Italy. The new ship will join the Cunard fleet in October 2010. Meanwhile, Cunard came in first in the large cruise line category ahead of 22 other lines in a survey of travelers conducted by Zaggat’s.
Another Fincantieri ship, the Costa Deliziosa (92,600-tons) successfully completed her sea trials on 15 November. She is currently being fitted out at Fincantieri’s Marghera (Venice) shipyard and will be delivered on January 29, 2010.
While much attention was being paid to Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas’s arrival in the United States, her sister ship Allure of the Seas was floated out of her building dock at the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland.
Tahitian Princess is currently in drydock in Singapore being transformed into the Ocean Princess. Progress on the transformation can be followed on the Princess.com website.
Also in drydock, is Holland America’s flagship Rotterdam. I was able to take the attached photo of her during a port call in Freeport, Grand Bahamas last week.
The call in Freeport was on the new Carnival Dream. The Dream, sailing out of New York, was making the same port calls as fleetmate Carnival Pride, which was sailing out of Baltimore. As a result, the two ships formed a Fun Ship Flotilla, which included the two ships maneuvering closely around each other at sea in a similar fashion as when Queen Mary 2 and QE2 made tandem crossings. Dream was also accompanied for a time by the newly-commissioned USS New York (LPD 21).
NCL’s Norwegian Dawn experienced a power failure during a Caribbean cruise, which made her divert to San Juan, Puerto Rico for repairs rather than return to Miami where the cruise had begun. Dawn’s next cruise also had to be cancelled.
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