Having left Bridgetown, Barbados the evening of Sunday January 24th 2016, we enjoyed the evening’s entertainment of the female vocalist – Ngo Ngofa who has been performing in the West End for years and sang from “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”, “Carmen Jones”, “Porgy and Bess” and others. The evening was opened with the Cunard Singers and Dancers doing a tribute to Mowtown.
Monday January 25, 2016 – At sea – As usual a busy day with morning lectures by David Mallinder on Sammy David Jr and Dr Denny Whitford on “Whales – Gians of the Seas”. The main event however was in Honour of Robert Burns. In true Bobby Burns style, all Scottish Guests donned their kilts and the ceremony started with the bag piping in of the Haggis. Amusing speeches by he social host & hostess, berating the “female species” were given by Tommy and “male species” by Imogen and subjected to appropriate jeers. Other speeches in a broad Scottish brogue unintelligible to many, preceded the sword dance and Scottish dancing for many guests. A traditional Burns Night Ceilidh followed with Scottish dancing and wee drams of whiskey, well into the night. Haggis was indeed served for dinner, but fortunately other options were available. We and many others, feigning Vegetarianism for the evening, became a popular ruse!!!
Tuesday January 26, 2016 – At Sea. Australia Day was marked for the many Australians on board. The 10AM lecture on Rio de Janiero was followed by another amusing talk on his life and experience by Sir Tony Robinson.
The highlight of the day though, was the “Behind the Scenes” tour. The Social Host – Tommy who had given the male Burns Speech the night before, escorted the 16 passengers (max capacity) on a fascinating 3 1/2 hour tour of those areas off limits to the passengers. Each area was hosted and talk given / questions answered by the chief officer responsible for that function. Our first stop was the Bridge where the officer of the watch, followed by the Captain – Kevin Ospry – gave us a tour of the impressively large Bridge. Windows in the floor looking down at the sea 12 floors below, the triple redundant set of consoles on the bridge (plus 2 others) for navigation and control over the propulsion and all systems on the ship. 4 Alternating Current 260 ton, 21.5 MW Rolls Royce pods, 2 stationary and 2 that rotate 360 degrees drive the vessel plus 6 (3 each side) 3.2 MW bow thrusters help in the lateral manouverability of the ship allowing it to do a 360 degree turn in place (as we witnessed in the Mersey River in Liverpool last year)!! Maximum power is 115,328 HP!!! (A lot of horses!!!!!)
Next the tour went to the forecastle (with the assistant Captain – from Rome) to see the enormous lines and on a separate floor, the anchors and chains (each link in the chain was 2 foot in diameter)! After wandering through the crew cabin area and along the corridors we met the head of housekeeping and on to the tour of the medical center. The highlight here was seeing the room where the baby was born a month or so ago. He was called Benjamin Brooklyn after the first name of the senior doctor on board and the location of its birth – 3 miles from the Verezano Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn NY. Apparently, some five years ago twins were born on the ship to one of the crew.
The tour then led to the refuse disposal and recycling area; the baggage handling area (12,000 pieces of luggage were brought on at the start of this World Tour) and the area where the food and supplies area boarded. Also seen were brief sightings of the crew mess (dining) hall and officers & crew pubs / bars. With 1,200 crew on board, this is a sizeable area, with 5 tons of rice being consumed a week (many Philipine & Asian crew). Next, to the engine control room, where there is another full control panel (as in the Bridge) and the controls of the heavy oil ($150/ton) and more refined marine gas ($300/ton). The former is the principal fuel but emits sulphur and other such chemicals, so the latter is used near and in ports.
Finally, to the food handling area and walking into the freezer (the size of many family starter homes) where the 15 tonnes of meat and fish are kept. We were interested to see that beef from Uruguay was on board (loaded in Southampton) even though we are slated to be in Uruguay in a couple of weeks! Apparently Cunard buys 100 tonnes of beef from Uruguay each year which is delivered and stored in Southampton. Then some 3 months prior to use, a properly refrigerated container is sent to designated ports for supply when the ships dock at that port. Amazing the coordination that takes place to get all provisions in the right place at the right time. Menus (rotate for passengers on a 24 day cycle and crew in a 30 day cycle) are all prepared 3-4 months in advance and food sent to the corresponding locations to satisfy the menu requirements. Fresh produce, eggs etc are purchased locally at each port. We then got a detailed tour of the main kitchen where 5,000 individual meals (lunch & dinner) are prepared daily. Things like 8 kettles, each cooking 800 gallons of soup are kept. Next we were invited to a private champagne tea and the final stop was to the theatre to watch a dress rehearsal of the evening’s act.
Some interesting statistics about Queen Mary 2:
1) About 11,000 cubic meters of waste is processed weighing 2,000 tones. This is about 30 cubic meters / 5 tons a day processed by 6 people – / shifts of 3, working day and night. Half of this waste is shredded and incinerated reducing the volume by 80% and generating 150 tons of ash a year. (All tonnes are imperial not metric tons). About 1 ton of food waste is converted into a purée slurry and discharged into the open seas a day. About 300 tons of crushed glass is recycled a year; 15,000 liters of cooking oil is recycled into bio-diesel a year; 35 tons of compacted plastic waste; 25 tons of aluminum tins and 80 tons of steel cans are recycled each year.
2) The Ship’s Dimensions – Length 1,132 ft (335 meters); width 148 ft (45 meters); height waterline to funnel 204 ft (62m); draft 33ft 10″ (10m); Loaded Displacement 79,827 tonnes; and Gross Tonnage 148,528 GRT.
3) Electric power is generated by 4 16.8 MW Diesel Generators and 25 MW Gas turbines producing 117.2 MW (157,168 HP) at 11,000 Volt, 60 Hz, 3 phase current. The Diesel engines use 3.1 tonnes an hour of Heavy Fuel Oil and the Gas Turbines use 6 tonnes of Marine Gas Oil an hour. The fill-up at the pump can be a little costly as the capacity of the tanks are – Heavy Fuel Oil = 1,412,977 gallons and Marine Gas Oil = 966,553 Gallons. The potable drinking water tank has a capacity of 1,011,779 Gallons (3,830 Cu Meters) and filled daily by Sea Water desalination at a rate of 620 tonnes / day. Consumption is 1,100 tonnes a day or 79 gallons (302 liters) per person per day.
4) Now to food – There are 21 large refrigerated store rooms that hold 200 tonnes of food. On a 7 day trip, 20,000 liters of fresh milk and 50 tonnes of fruit and vegetables are consumed. On a regular day, 16,000 meals are served, 5,000 fresh rolls and 1,100 bottles of wine are opened each dinner. Some fun “Annual” comparisons – sugar consumption would make 8,000,000 scones; tea consumption would fill an Olympic sized pool; 1.5 million drinks (excluding wine) are served; 8,000 sacks of flour are used which if piled on top of each other they would be 5 times taller than the Eiffel Tower and pineapples used each year equivalent to the weight of 50 SUV’s!!!
That evening, the Troubadors – 4 male vocalists performed a variety of 1960’s music and were great showmen full of energy.
Wednesday January 27, 2016 – Crossing the Equator.
The morning lecture by David Miller was on Tony Bennet and as all his lectures, brilliant, with standing room only in the 1,000+ seat lecture / movie / planetarium auditorium – Illuminations.
The highlight of the day though, was the 2PM Pollywog to Shellback Equator Crossing Ceremony. This was held on the 8th floor aft deck by one of the 3 swimming pools and consists of King Neptune and his wife – Neptuna (played by our friend Tommy who guided us on the backstage tour of the ship) and his seaweed court. As all gathered around the swimming pool, the judge, played by Jo Haley (entertainment director) paraded in and called the court to order. Next in the parade was Neptune and Neptuna followed by a group of pirates and the Captain + Senior officers & mermaids. After a few introductions, the “criminals” (a group of volunteer passengers who had never crossed the Equator) were brought forward, tried and of course found guilty by voice vote of the gathered masses. Such major offenses as “saving a seat for one’s spouse in the theatre” and “eating too much at the buffet” were the crimes!!! The “criminals” in groups of 6 having been found guilty of these major offenses were immediately subject to punishment. This consisted of putting the “slop” (food left over from breakfast) all over their heads and bodies, then each had to kiss a large (dead) fish before being tossed into the swimming pool. After the 18 passengers were “dealt with”; some of the crew and even the 4 excellent Troubador singers from the night before, were subjected to the same treatment. However, some of these were singled out and made to lay on tables with the slop placed inside their bating trunks and completely covering them. Even the 3 foot long fish was forced down the trousers of one of the “criminals” (singers) whose crime was “singing too well”. The final person was one of the senior (head of security) officers dressed in his full white uniform who received the full remaining slop and table treatment! Thus King Neptune declared that they were no longer Pollywogs (people who has not crossed the Equator), but all were now Shelbacks (those who had) with certificates being delivered to the cabins.
I, having crossed the Equator some 500 times in my life, Tachy had also crossed some 20 times, so we were not subject to King Neptune’s judgement. Diana and Nelson did cross for the first time, but were not subject to the humiliation ritual, due to space considerations (18 passengers only). However, as the ceremony took place just as we were crossing the Equator, the four of us decided to celebrate the occasion and retired to the pub for some champagne – a more civilized form of “torture”!!!
After a delicious Sopa de Tortilla, lobster and Baled Alaska dinner, we were off to another Captain’s cocktail party (for all those in the world voyage) with more champagne and food – mini fish & chips, Banofe tarts etc. The Captain spoke and gave us a brief update on the voyage thus far and promised to update us periodically at additional parties. At each party, more tables with decor and food of the nations visited are to be added. U.K. Food, Statues of Liberty and Tower Bridge plus hamburgers were the main items at this event. The Captain further indicated that Montevideo was one of the more difficult ports to dock the ship as he explained that one had to traverse a section of “navigable mud”!!! If we get stuck – send help!!! He also indicated that we would be traveling some 38,000 nautical miles during the trip around the world. The evening ended with an amazing show of talent by the West End performer – Ngo Ngofa, singing many of the classic black female classics.
Thursday January 28, 2016 – At Sea South of the Equator.
Today was the final lecture of the 6 that David Mallinder gave to a packed house, on the Great American Crooners, fittingly concluding with the “Chairman of the Board”, Old Blue Eyes himself – Francis Albert Sinatra (12/12/1915 to 5/14/1998). As soon as he left the stage, Nicholas Oldroyd (Executive Chef from Yorkshire) and Mennard Ramos (Chef de cuisine, Kings Court cafeteria, from the Philipines) gave a cooking demonstration of food from their respective homes. Steak pie and chicken with vegetables & Soy sauce were on the menu. This made us hungry so off we sauntered to the Golden Lion pub for Cottage Pie and Vegetable Pie washed down by a good brew! This evening we will be regaled by the four singers – The Troubadors, (now recovered from yesterday’s punishment), singing Broadway classics as well as the two lady violinists – Electra who performed on Burns night, but we did not attend.
Roger & Anne Travels 