Englishmum

OK...quite a lot to write about so I'll post in different segments!

Sadly, the Cunard and Carnival ships no longer dock in the River Hudson between Midtown Manhatten and Hoboken, NJ, so it's not such a fabulous sight for passengers (or spectators).

We were told that Carnival (now the parent company of Cunard) wasn't happy with the facilities in Manhatten. Apparently the Port Authority of NY and NJ weren't putting money into the facilities, one of the reasons being that money was being diverted to the rebuilding of the infrastructure at the World Trade Center. Carnival then built their own docking facility and cruise centre in Brooklyn.

TBH this cruise centre is in the back end of nowhere in a really grotty/industrial area and quite far away from being up close to the views of Manhatten. Most passengers from what we could tell had arrived from (spending a day or more) at hotels in Manhatten.....there is absolutely nothing of interest or to do in the vicinity of where the ship is docked and the area is run-down. We were lucky in that our son drove us there (we went via driving across Staten Island and over the Verrazano Bridge - which the ship goes under). The cruise center is very badly signposted and we had to 'go around' again or end up going into the Battery Tunnel into Manhatten! TBH I know that some of you will have pets but if at all possible if it were me I would try to get at least a night or two in NYC....thousands of New Yorkers have dogs of all sizes and walk them around the city and Central Park etc.

We arrived at about 12.30pm and quite a number of taxis, minibuses and cars were also arriving, but there are port workers directing the traffic. Porters are in aisles waiting to take your suitcases into containers to take onboard; we noticed a couple of signs saying that tipping is discretionary but of course this is the USA so indeed we felt obliged to tip the porter lol!

Our son parked the car and we took the (only) opportunity to walk alongside the ship to the hull and take some photos (inc. with the Statue of Liberty in the distance). I strongly suggest that the BE travellers on the August crossing do this too - it will be your only chance as you won't be able to do this in Southampton. It was incredibly hot, about 102F. There is a hot-dog and drink stand just next to the cruise centre entrance and you can buy last minute NY souvenirs just inside (didn't really look but guess they're pricey).

At around 1pm/1.15pm we decided to say our farewells to our son and his girlfriend and went through the departure point. The cruise centre is airconditioned, bright and spacious. It's like an airport check-in, where you show your paperwork and passports - but you only have your hand baggage as your suitcases have already been handed to the porter. They take a quick photo and hand you your Stateroom keys (they put your name on your own individual key).

Just before boarding there was a stand; one with info about the champagne afternoon teas and another one with the promotion for sodas on board. My spouse doesn't drink tea or coffee, (mostly Diet Coke ) and it was certainly worth buying the package for sodas; as much as you like anywhere on the ship, so he bought it on the spot and they put a special sticker on your room key. (On hindsight he wished he'd bought our insulated cold drink mug which we'd bought on another cruise we did to safely drink from whilst walking around the ship, rather than feeling obliged to drink from the glasses in the bars and dining rooms).

By the time we'd got up to our Stateroom our suitcases had already been delivered so we were able to hang up our clothes straightaway, loads of hangers, four drawers and space to put one very large suitcase on the top shelf inside the wardrobe. We had a balcony room on Deck 8 which was very spacious - it had a 2 seater sofa and coffee table, so if you have extra suitcases there is definitely room for them (even if you wanted to you could even put them on the sofa if necessary).

This was exactly like our Stateroom:

http://www.cunard.com/Ships/Queen-Ma...ub-Balcony-AA/

(BTW my spouse only booked this cruise on the last day of the Diamond Jubilee promotion so was able to take advantage of the double stateroom upgrade; I had no idea I was going on this trip - I was loathe to book anything at all during this time as I was waiting for the letter from the USCIS for my biometrics - fortunately the letter arrived on the last day of the Cunard promotion so my spouse immediately booked the cruise, and there weren't many cabins left. Just as well as my biometrics had to be done on Friday 29th June and he arrived from Switzerland the day after!).

Our balcony was partially obscured by a lifeboat but we were still able to have a very good view....we were 'port side' in Brooklyn so had a lovely view (not) of the dock, rather than the harbour. Not that it bothered us as we were able to go to the top decks and in any case we live near NYC and have seen the Statue of Liberty countless times.

We were located very close to the laundry (which was very handy!) Two US top-loading washing machines and dryers, free pods of laundry powder - take your own dryer sheets if you wish as they're not supplied - and one iron and board. I did hear one night at dinner that a fight ensued on one cruise over 2 women arguing over the use of the iron lol! I discovered that some people had been in NYC hotels for a few days and brought all their laundry back with them to do on the ship, which is why it was busy soon after embarking.

Many people had been unable to have lunch during their journey to get to the cruise centre, so you can go to the King's Court on Deck 7 for a bite to eat: burgers, chips, pasta, salad etc. and drinks and this is what we did after unpacking. At all dining places there are antiseptic Purell dispensers, which I liked to see and in the formal dining rooms a waiter will give you a 'squirt' as you enter the room.

Our 'cabin boy' a Filipino called Cesar was very nice and introduced himself to us and informed us about the compulsory safety drill at the Muster Station. We had received a complimentary bottle of champagne (not sure if everyone on Deck 8 got one?) in a cooler on the coffee table with 2 glasses; my spouse is teetotal so guess who got to drink it all? We went up to the upper decks outside for the departure celebration, so I took up a glass of champagne with me. Just as well as they were selling it up there for about $17 a glass! The 'roving' waiter on the top was the guy who'd sold my spouse the soda package so he recognised us and kept bringing him some Diet Cokes. (I have no idea if there are restrictions on bringing your own bottles of plonk onboard, I know that Royal Caribbean confiscates anything not purchased immediately beforehand at their Duty Free shop and they screen with X-ray machines).

I was pleasantly surprised at the drink prices on the ship; cocktails were definitely cheaper than in Manhatten bars and restaurants and indeed in my local town and include the service charge.

As you can imagine it was pretty busy on the top decks as the Queen Mary was about to depart from New York with everyone coming to look at the view (one fortunate couple had their very own deck to themselves!). There was a live band playing songs eg. 'Jamming' by Bob Marley and some recorded music of American military band music - plus the famous "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra. It was a beautifully clear day (albeit stinking hot) and a wonderful carnival atmosphere with memories that we will always cherish of sailing out of NY harbour, with the Staten Island ferry boat racing up to greet the QM2 as she set sail.

It was fantastic going under the huge Verrazano bridge (it is similar in design to the Golden Gate Bridge) as the top of the ship's funnel is only 6-12 inches I believe from the underside of the bridge...everyone 'ooooohed and aaaaahed'

We then went down to the Britannia dining room to change our dinner sitting; they had put us on a late sitting but we wanted the 6.30pm one and managed to get this done....luckily we did this quickly as some people arrived after us and it was too late as they had to close to prep for dinner.

Anyway, I'm rabbiting on here - I'll continue with more info a bit later if you like?

Pombat

Fabulous! Please do continue later!!

Englishmum

Yuck. That must have been awful.

I can honestly say that we had no experience of this kind whatsoever on the QM2, it was very smooth indeed, even when we did go through some rough seas.

Mummy in the foothills

I'm loving it Englishmum I'm living vicariously through you

curleytops

What a lovely experience! Thanks so much for sharing it with us

robin1234

Agreed.. I'm enjoying the narrative, more please..!! I can't imagine being married to someone who drinks soda and is teetotal though


I remember going under the Verranzano Narrows bridge in the Mikail Lermontov back in 1979 when we returned to England.. Certainly her funnel was nowhere near reaching the height of the bridge!

nic75

We also did the QM last Augiust / September and had a wonderful smooth sailing. We had purchased tickets for the last 16 of the men's US Open tennis and women's quarters -was our first time there, but unfortunately it was rained off and as we were leaving for Niagara the next morning, had to give it a miss. If anyone wants to purchase 2 great seats for 4th September for face value, just let me know.

kwazywabbit

Daft question, can you take motor bikes back via the QE2? I want to ride from calgary to new york and catch a ship back to England. Just wondering if this is possable.

Englishmum

It's doubtful, but I guess you could phone Cunard and ask them?

Another way to get to the UK would be be freighter ship (cargo ship). Surprisingly they do actually take a limited number of passengers, but it's certainly nowhere near the style and comfort of a cruise liner lol!

http://www.freightervoyages.eu/index.htm

http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/h...by-cargo-ship/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jan/20/3

http://budgettravel.about.com/od/cru...By-The-Day.htm

Englishmum

BTW - I've received an e-mail from Cunard with their latest promotion (7 days Transatlantic Crossing from $599)

http://content.cunard.com/cunard/?3e....3jMlebTvxNKW3

Mummy in the foothills

Wow that is so cheap!

Englishmum

I met up with If1 and her spouse (K & N) in New York City yesterday; they are very excited about embarking the QM2 this afternoon!

I'll be watching the bridge webcam at 5pm to see the ship approaching the Verrazano Bridge.

By the way, last month when we were on the QM2 we actually heard a surprise announcement from the Captain as we were finishing our dinner. He said that we may be surprised to see that we were going under the Verazzano Bridge again (we were all thinking WTF? ). It turned out that one of the passengers had had a medical emergency and they were returning to NY to get him off the ship. We hadn't even felt the ship turning around!

We headed off back to the top deck with a camera and my spouse took some nice pics of the sun setting over Staten island.

We found out later that the ship didn't need to dock again; it had had to turn around a little way out to sea as it couldn't turn around in a busy shipping lane. The Captain told us that he didn't want to risk having a helicopter hovering above the ship to take a sick passenger off (as winching him up would have been a very unpleasant experience for him) and that the Port Authority of NY & NJ helped out by sending a boat out alongside the QM2 to receive the sick passenger.

The passenger had had a heart attack. He was British and transported to a hospital in New Jersey. I have no idea if he survived or not.

Last week on one of the Discovery TV channels here in the US my son had recorded a documentary about the Queen Mary; even before the QM2 had departed from New York a passenger had had a heart attack and they had to unload him; this put the ship's departure back by 2 hours and the tide was rising. The funnel of the Queen Mary is only just a few inches below the Verrazano Bridge and the Captain had to head dead centre of the bridge to avoid hitting it.

If you can, try and watch the webcam (via the link below) just a few minutes after 5pm (ET) in the US or 10pm (UK time) to see the ship as she leaves NY harbour and goes under the Verrazano!

http://www.cunard.com/Ships/Queen-Ma...ridge-Web-Cam/

Pombat

We're making our final preparations now - so excited!!

intant

Bon Voyage! Have a wonderful trip! (7 weeks to go for me!)

Mummy in the foothills

OK I wrote down the time and will try to make sure I'm here to see you waving like a mad thing in front of the camera