Tuesday update

It was a mixed bag of weather Monday.  Grey skies, some showers with a rare sun break.  I times one of the sunny periods for lunch, having it outside on the rear deck. I also managed to walk 6 Kms.  It wasn't too cold and after a couple of laps I started to warm up.  The sea become moderate around mid day with some large swells.  It is dark grey and quite ominous...typical North Atlantic seas.

We altered our course in the morning and are now on the circle routed heading north east.

There was the commodore's welcome cocktail party last night.  Drinks were flowing and I bumped into several other guests I have met on board.  Then the first formal dinner of the trip. There were just five of us for a table for eight.  Meals have been quite good though it would be nice if the food came warmer.

The ship continued to roll overnight.  As I opened the curtains this morning we are in fog.  No fog horn is sounding though, I'm not sure why not.  Temperature is 7 degrees but it seems warmer. Must be the direction of the wind that is helping.

It feels like it is sunny behind the fog. If we can burn it off it could be a nice day.

Unfortunately we will set the clocks forward another hour at noon today. Talking to a person two days ago that has been sailing on ships for years.  I can't remember the ship but he said that on this particular ship years ago, the would set the clocks forward 20 minutes three times a day. At least we aren't on that program!

Just had a very interesting experience.  I was reading in the forward bar around 1030 waiting to go to the lecture at 11.  The ship was moving quite a bit and then it started to shake/vibrate every couple minutes as if it was pitching forward and hitting the water.  It wasn't severe and I just thought normal Atlantic seas.  Just after 11 the commodore came on the PA to say that he has stopped the propulsion systems to deal with an urgent issue.  This means the ship was slowing to a stop , which is causing the swells to hit the ship on the stern and therefore causing the vibrations.  He said while uncomfortable, it is not unsafe.

So we were effectively drifting in moderate seas! The vibrations didn't last more than 30 mins and by the time I looked outside it sure seemed we were moving. The TV in my room said we were doing 8 knots and increasing speed. At noon we were told the issue had been fixed and back on our way doing 19 knots and have a smoother ride! Nothing like a little excitement!

A couple of photos of the grand lobby.  It's a very nice ship.

Monday -sea day 2

Cunard does a great job of its enrichment program.  The bring in lecturers who are really interesting.  Yesterday was a retired Special Investigations Officer from Essex who investigated over 30 murders in his career.  The title was "how to catch a killer".  He told the story of one investigation where he did catch the murderer.  Fascinating stuff, and the theatre was packed.

Yesterday we moved the clocks forward at noon.  I've done this on Azamara a few years ago...it is quite strange.  All of a sudden it's 1pm and I'm not hungry.  I went to the gym and worked our for 45 mins.  At two I went to a meeting for cruise critic and met a bunch of people there.  Several people are taking the QueenMary 2 back on the same day we arrive in Southampton.  It's a different breed of people on these crossings...many are addicted to crossing the ocean!

I have found it to be a very friendly crowd, more so than on qm2 last year.  Not sure if it is because many are on from the world cruise or if the ship is just more intimate.

I tried to sit out in the sun but when it went behind a cloud it was too cold.  I tried walking the deck but by then it was cloudy and blustery.  One lap was enough, my glasses covered in salt.  I had a nap instead!

sunny morning :

Cloudy afternoon:

Pre and post dinner drink was in the commodore club in the front of the ship.  There is piano player there who is seriously good.

Monday morning and I didn't wake up until 10.  It is cloudy, a few degrees warmer but not very nice out. Seas are slight and the ship is moving somewhat.  Probably a day to stay indoors and read.

Sail away

I went for a walk in Central Park Saturday morning.  It was cool but very busy.  People are ready for spring after the cold winter.  I had lunch at Bricioala, a small Italian place near the hotel. I wanted to try it on a recommendation from a coworker.  Fresh pasta, it was excellent.  New York really does have great restaurants.

I went to the pier around 1 and checked in and walked on board, no waiting.  The ship, I have to say, is very nice.  Classic Cunard styling with some of the nice cruise ship features, a couple of nice pool areas and the bar at the front of the ship with 180 degree views.

When my bags arrived at my stateroom, the weather was warm so was able to sit out and get some sun for an hour.

But the highlight of the day was the sail away.  Weather didn't disappoint, sunny and 14, though is was cold as we left the harbour.  There was a speaker giving us the tour guide talk as we sailed.  We were also escorted by nypd helicopter and armed coast guard!

Despite being frozen by the end, the sail out lived up to my expectations.  It is a real highlight of sailing this direction.

I'm at a table for 8 for dinner, though there were only 6 of us there last night.  2 of us are from Ottawa.  We had a nice meal as we got to know each other.  I had ordered a wine package and had a bottle of Chilean Cabernet waiting for me.

This morning is sunny and calm seas. Just beautiful but cold...7 degrees.

New York evening

Trying to stay in the Hilton family for the points, I booked a brand new Hilton Garden Inn just south of Central Park.  I had originally booked the much larger Hilton midtown where I have stayed previously but when I checked this week, I could get a much better rate here.  Well it's actually much nicer. Whereas the midtown is getting run down, this is new, clean and quiet.  Location is pretty much the same too.

I used Uber for the first time here and it worked well.  I took it down to Barbuto for dinner.  Traffic was terrible so it took 45 mins when it would usually be 15.  I got there in time to have a glass of wine and gnocchi.  They are to die for.

It was then a 5 minute walk to the Village Vanguard. I've wanted to go to a show here for sometime.  It is probably the most famous jazz club in the world.  I went to iTunes and searched for "village vanguard" and live albums from all the greats show up.  Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins to name a few.  I knew it would be small but didn't expect the walk down a tiny flight of stairs to the basement and the tiniest room for a performance.  Chairs squeezed together with the stage right in my lap. And to top it off, you feel the subway trains roll under your feet every few minutes.  So New York!

I watched the Barry Harris trio, who I had never heard of.  I suppose if I had been following jazz longer I may have heard of him as he and the band are quite old and have been playing together for 50 years.  Piano, bass, and drums made the trio.  It was very accessible as they played standards and had fun, joking through the show .  It wasn't long before the set ended and we got kicked out for the second show.  Lots of fun.

Saturday morning and the sun is shining and it looks like it will be a nice day.  Forecast for sailing time is about the same. 14 and sunny.

New York Sailaway

After sailing out of New York three years ago in perfect weather, I quickly realized how special that was.  It's a real treat to be able to sail down the Hudson, past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and under the Varazzano-Narrow's bridge into open water.  The Queen Mary 2 usually docks in Brooklyn now which would make for an abbreviated sailout.  But luckily, the smaller Queen Victoria is scheduled to dock at the Manhattan cruise terminal so we will get the full effect.  Only question will be the weather.  Currently the forecast is for sun but cool, about 13 C.  That's OK, as long as it doesn't rain.

We are scheduled to sail at 6pm April 25.  That's a bit later than normal, likely because this will be a port day for many passengers that are continuing the world cruise or a portion of it.  There are now two webcams that show the ships sailing out of New York.  The new one is much closer to the cruise terminal and shows great views of the ships backing out and then heading down the Hudson.  If anyone wants to watch, go here at 6pm

NY Port Webcam

Next you can cut over to this webcam that will catch the ship coming out of the river into the harbour and follow it under the VZ narrows bridge.

NY Harbor webcam

Not knowing the ship, I don't know where the best spot will be, but I'm thinking top deck at the front will be nice.

Queen Victoria - 2 weeks

This year's crossing will be on board Cunard's Queen Victoria. Built in 2007, she is the second of the three Cunard "Queens", the other two being Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth.  The ship is built off the same design as many ships in the Carnival family.  Holland America, P&O, Cunard and Carnival take the design and then fit them for their needs.  At 2000 passengers, it is a mid sized ship these days with enough space to have everything you need on board.  With everything I've read, it seems QV is a very nice, elegant ship.  I'm looking forward to exploring.

It's also nice to be getting on a ship that just when through dry dock at the start of this year.  It should be in great shape.  Here is a video about this refit.  Nice how in this video they focus on the crew that worked on the ship.  I'm sure they work hard...lots to get done in a short period of time.

voyage video

I edited my video down to about 7 minutes capturing the events of the trip and the changing weather conditions.  Apologies for the shaky video in the first section.  The camera seems to have a problem when zoomed in and it is windy outside.  You can view it here:

http://youtu.be/lGa5bR79LJc

Enjoy!