Cunard Celebrates The Diamond Jubilee and The Beatles

This week the focus is on celebrations.

            In early June, Cunard Line participated in the Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking the 60^th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne.  There were celebrations throughout the UK for this anniversary ranging from local street parties to a concert with a series of mega-stars outside of Buckingham Palace.

            Considering the long connection between Cunard and the Royal Family, and this monarch in particular, Cunard decided that it had to do something more than just send a card to mark the occasion.    Therefore, it planned a spectacular event where all three of its Queen ships would meet together in Southampton.

            Because of the legendary reputation of the Cunard Queens, their rare gatherings have been recognized not only by ship lovers but by the general public as special occasions.  The first gathering of three Queens occurred in New York in 2008 when Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria were all in port together.  A few months later, the same three ships met in Southampton but because QE2 was there for a re-fit rather than to begin a voyage, the meeting was considered unofficial even though it generated significant attention.  Then, shortly after the new Queen Elizabeth entered service, she met with Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria in New York with all three ships exiting the harbor in a grand procession.

            For this year’s celebration, Cunard planned to have all three ships enter and exit Southampton harbor together.  In addition, there would be a display by Britain’s precision flying team The Red Arrows and a fireworks display as the ships left Southampton.  There would also be a day-long radio broadcast from the roof of the Carnival UK building which overlooks the harbor.   Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.  It caused the cancellation of The Red Arrows performance and interfered with the fireworks.

            Still, it was a spectacular event.  The stars of the show in their black and white liveries and Cunard red funnels were majestic.  For those onboard the three ships, the proximity of the ships to each other was indeed an awesome sight.

            Beyondships’ photo essay of the celebrations (including a slide show) is at http://www.beyondships2.com/cunard-royal-jubilee-celebrations-part-one.html

            A much different type of celebration was the performances by The Beatles Celebration onboard Queen Mary 2 during one of her recent transatlantic crossings.  The Beatles Celebration is not just another Beatles tribute band but a show in which the performers place the audience in an imaginary Beatles performance.

            This show was particularly appropriate for Queen Mary 2.  While not mentioned as much as Cunard’s connections to royalty and its connection to the celebrities and movie stars of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Cunard has a substantial connection to The Beatles and to the so-called British Invasion music of the 1960s.  In addition, a performance of this caliber fits nicely with the ship’s overall quality level.

            Beyondships’ review of The Beatles Celebration, including an interview with the cast, is at http://www.beyondships2.com/cunard-qm2-beatles-celebration.html          

Talking with Celebrity Summit's Captain; Review of Summit's Specialty Restaurant

Rounding out our update on Celebrity Summit are two new articles that approach the Summit experience from two different angles.

First, we have my interview with Captain Nikolaos Frantzis, the master of Celebrity Summit discussing the ship from a nautical perspective.. Captain Frantzis was for many years associated with Celebrity Mercury and came to Celebrity Summit earlier this year. From a nautical perspective, Mercury follows the traditional cruise ship model whereas Summit is very much based on the new model. Thus, Captain Frantzis is in a very good position to explain such things as the difference between a ship with a traditional propeller system and one with an azipod system. My conversation with Captain Frantzis is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-art-captain.html

Second, we have my review of the specialty restaurant on the Summit. The Normandie restaurant on Summit is out of the ordinary because it purposely tries to invoke the atmosphere of the 1930s ocean liner SS Normandie. It even has artifacts and art work from the liner. The Normandie was perhaps the most elegant and sophisticated ship ever built so a restaurant seeking to recall that ship has to perform up to a very high level. Thus, in assessing the Normandie Restaurant, it was not just a question of whether it was good or not but a question of whether it lived up to its namesake. My review of the Normandie is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-review-Normandie.html

This week Cunard announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be naming Cunard’s new ship, the Queen Elizabeth, on October 11 of this year. This is, of course, quite an honor and underscores Cunard’s unique position in the industry.

Of course, just because Cunard is planning to call its new ship Queen Elizabeth does not mean that that will be the ship’s name - - at least if one goes by historical precedent. In the late 1960s, Cunard built a new ship to replace the original Queen Elizabeth, which had been built in the 1930s and which had served with distinction in war and peace. The plan was to call the new ship Queen Elizabeth in tribute to the original ship. The original Queen Elizabeth had been named after the Queen Mother, the current monarch’s mother, and so Her Majesty was asked and agreed to name the new ship. However, at the naming ceremony she surprised everyone by saying: “I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second.” If the ship’s godmother had been some movie star or minor member of the nobility, this last minute addition might have been overlooked but the monarch’s words cannot be overlooked. Consequently, the new ship became the Queen Elizabeth 2.

While Her Majesty’s addition to the planned name sparked years of debate over whether the ship was named after the original Queen Elizabeth ship or whether it was named after the monarch, I think most people would agree that it was a good move. QE2 instantly had her own identity that was distinct from that of the original ship. One can only wonder whether she would have become such a legend in her own right without that departure from the plan.

Talking wiith John Duffy, Hotel Manager on Cunard's Queen Mary 2

John Duffy has been an eye witness to the transformation of the passenger ship business. He began his career on the original Queen Elizabeth, one of the great ocean liners of all time and a ship that was a household name in her day. He sailed on the first voyage of the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) and served as her hotel manager from 1981 until her last voyage in 2009. Now, he is the hotel manager on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built.

Along the way, Duffy has met royalty, heads of state and numerous celebrities. He has received awards for his work and heads up a department that includes some 900 people. Yet, he remains approachable and friendly, not only talking to but listening to passengers.

Having had such a unique career, I asked him to describe what it was like on the various ships that he has sailed on and how they differ from the passenger ships of today.

In addition, having spent so much of his career doing transatlantic crossings, I asked him why people should choose to spend their vacation/holiday on Queen Mary 2, the only ship that still does transatlantic crossings on a regular basis. I also asked him to address some of the concerns that people sometimes express about a crossing.
My conversation with Mr. Duffy can be found at: http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Duffy.html

Queen Mary 2 - - Behind-the-scenes looks at Entertainment and Dining

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.

When they introduce the senior officers at the captain’s reception on a cruise ship, most people have a good idea of what the hotel manager or the chief engineer does. However, the role of the staff captain onboard is not as immediately clear. The closest analogy would seem to be to the executive officer on a warship but that is not an exact fit. Since it is the number two position on the ship, I thought an article about what being a staff captain entails would be in order.


To find out what the position entails, I say down with Trevor Lane, Staff Captain on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. Trevor has had a remarkable career. In addition to being the navigator on the legendary Canberra during the Falklands War, he has served on a wide variety of ships ranging from the Orsova to the Caribbean Princess. Moreover, given the prestige and size of Queen Mary 2, I felt that a description of the duties of the staff captain on that ship would encompass pretty much all that the position entails on other ships.

Trevor did not disappoint. Bright and articulate, he gave a concise but through description of his various responsibilities. In addition, he spoke from a personal view point so there is the human element as well. The resulting article can be found at http://beyondships.com/QM2-lane.html

In addition, I have posted a retrospective article about QE2 that was recently published in the Navy League Log. In it, I wrote about the ship’s career and gave some anecdotes that I came across during my 70-odd voyages on that ship. http://beyondships.com/QE2-farewell.html

Finally, for those interested in military ships, I have posted an article about the amphibious assault ships USS Nassau and USS Bataan. http://beyondships.com/USN-Nassau.html

QE2 revisited - - Three photo essays

This week, I thought I would take another look at Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) seeing as how she is the world’s most famous ship and will be leaving service this year. My own connection to the ship began in 1969, not long after the ship went into service, on a ship visit in New York. Since then I have sailed on QE2 some 70-odd times. I did not really set out to make so many voyages; I just enjoyed being on the ship and it just followed naturally that it was the place to be during those times when one has a choice of where to be.

During her service life, QE2 has garnered a long list of achievements. For many years, the ship was synonymous with luxury and numerous celebrities were included in the passenger list. Although for a long times, QE2 was the largest ship in service, she is considerably smaller than many of today’s mega-cruise ships. As a result, passengers often had direct contact with these celebrities, which made for some interesting experiences.

There was also QE2’s wartime experience as a troopship during the Falklands War. Without QE2 and P&O’s Canberra, Britain could never have transported an army half way around the world to the war zone. Thus, it is not too much to say that QE2 played a vital role in winning that war, which was important not only in the re-vitalization of Britain but in the Cold War because the Soviets were watching to see what kind of response the West would and could make to such a provocation.

QE2 evolved and grew during the course of her lifetime. The original concept was for a ship that could do both the transatlantic service between the US and Britain as well as cruising. Accordingly, she was built in a very technologically advanced manner but also in such a way as to allow her to be constantly up-graded. For example, the hull, accommodations and public spaces were such that it made sense nearly 20 years after she was built to remove completely her old steam engines and replace them with a diesel-electric plant - - a massive undertaking. QE2’s evolution also saw the addition of cabins, the addition and subsequent removal of a retractable glass roof, the lengthening of decks, the addition of new public areas and the modification of others, as well as various paint schemes. It is possible to look at a photograph of the ship and deduce the date the photo was taken give or take a year or two.

There was an evolution in the style of the ship as well. QE2 was built to replace Cunard’s original Queen ships: Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. For all practical purposes, the coming of the commercial jet in the late 1950s put an end to the use of ships as a means of transporting people from Europe to America. However, another factor in the demise of the old ocean liners was that the public viewed them as old-fashioned and dull. Therefore, QE2 was designed to be a hip venue reflecting the Swinging England of the 1960s. Her public rooms used abstract shapes, naugahyde, and spaceage lighting. Outside her curving lines of her bow and superstructure were a break from the past. She was not a traditional liner.

Over the years, as the pendulum of public taste swung back towards tradition, QE2’s interior gradually became more like that of the older liners. In addition, with new cruise ships entering the market which were even a more radical departure from the ships of the past, QE2 started to look more like a traditional ship.

This was tremendously fortuitous because by the late 1990s, Cunard was barely surviving and it was a good bet that the company and its flagship would soon expire. However, the Hollywood blockbuster Titanic, rekindled public interest in traditional ocean liners and seeing a market opportunity, Carnival Corporation stepped in and saved Cunard. QE2 would sail on for another decade.

On my website this week, I have posted three photo essays of the ship during her last year. Each of them shows the ship in a characteristic situation. The first shows QE2 in New York during her final world cruise. http://beyondships.com/QE2-WC-NY.html. We see the ship at the Passenger Ship Terminal in Manhattan and sailing down the North River (a.k.a. the Hudson River) like she did so many times when she was Cunard’s flagship. The second shows QE2 on a ceremonial occasion - - the last meeting with fleetmate Queen Victoria, Cunard’s newest ship. http://beyondships.com/QE2-QV.html Finally, the third shows QE2 in her homeport of Southampton, England preparing for a cruise. http://beyondships.com/QE2-hythe.html All of these photos are exterior photos. There is a comprehensive interior tour of the ship at http://www.beyondships.com/QE2Tour.html