The youngest of Cunard’s renowned fleet, the newest Queen’s arrival was celebrated during a traditional maritime ceremony aboard, during which port officials and dignitaries exchanged decorative plaques with Captain Christopher Wells to commemorate the momentous visit. Local executives who welcomed the ship included Doreen Woo Ho, president, San Francisco Port Commission; Tom Kiely, executive vice president, Tourism, San Francisco Travel; James R. Callahan, president & ceo, Nautilus International Holding Corporation; Captain Cynthia Stowe, U.S. Coast Guard; Catharine Hooper, port agent, Inchcape Shipping Services; and Kate McNally, communications officer, British Consulate General.

“Today marks a very special visit for Queen Elizabeth,” said Captain Christopher Wells. “This is the Queen’s only U.S. maiden call, and given Cunard’s storied history with San Francisco, we are pleased that now, our entire modern fleet has called on this treasured port.”

The city of San Francisco has long held historical significance for Cunard ships since 1942, when the original Queen Elizabeth visited as part of her war duties, and where she also underwent a refit. Later, in 1978, Queen Elizabeth 2 made her maiden call there, visiting a dozen times more in subsequent years. Five years ago, flagship Queen Mary 2 was enthusiastically received by hundreds who came out to welcome her during her 2007 inaugural visit; and Queen Victoria was also graciously embraced by the city during her 2010 maiden call.

Named by Her Majesty The Queen in Southampton, England, in October 2010, Queen Elizabeth is the second largest Cunarder ever built, after Queen Mary 2.

Cunard’s longtime relationship with Great Britain’s Royal Family is reflected throughout the ship, including a specially-commissioned portrait of Her Majesty The Queen.

“Cunard Line’s ships have long symbolized the special relationship between Britain and the U.S.,” said Kate McNally, communications officer, British Consulate General. “There are also deep ties and history between San Francisco and Cunard, and Queen Elizabeth’s visit marks another milestone in our 70-year rapport.”

“The Port of San Francisco is honored to welcome Queen Elizabeth to our waterfront, as we did for the other Cunard Line ships, Queen Mary 2 in 2007 and Queen Victoria in 2010,” said San Francisco Port Commission President Doreen Woo Ho. “Cunard is renowned for its impeccable service, fine dining and sophisticated adventure, and San Francisco is a world-class destination for cruise guests to enjoy . . . what a perfect combination!”

Continuing its enduring relationship with San Francisco, Cunard is pleased to be the Preferred Cruise Partner of the San Francisco Symphony’s 2012 Black & White Ball this June. As such, Cunard hosted San Francisco Symphony patrons at a private dinner in Queen Elizabeth’s acclaimed restaurant, The Verandah. Guests were treated to a special performance by two Symphony violinists during the evening.

From San Francisco, Queen Elizabeth continues on her 107-day World Cruise and will stop in Hawaii, cross the equator into American Samoa, then cruise the South Pacific to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. She will then sail the South China Sea to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and India, before crossing the Arabian Sea to stop in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt before heading back to Southampton, making stops in Greece, Italy, Monaco and Portugal along the way.

This will be the first time that the three ships of the Cunard fleet – the three largest Cunarders ever built – will have been seen arriving and departing together in formation at their home port of Southampton.

Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2 will approach the port soon after first light on Tuesday 5 June, sailing in single file up the Solent, with a flotilla of small boats expected to welcome them in.

As Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria tie up at their berths, Queen Mary 2 will follow on, turning in the upper swinging ground and then passing each ship in turn, with crew lining the foredeck of all three vessels, and the ships’ whistles sounding in salute of Her Majesty’s Jubilee.

Events will be happening throughout the day, to create both an outstanding passenger experience and a fitting commemoration of Her Majesty’s reign. The celebrations will culminate in an evening spectacular where all three ships will brought within close proximity of each other, and a fusillade of fireworks and special effects will light up the evening sky beyond them.

Queen Mary 2 will then lead Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria in single file down the Solent as all three ships set out on their celebratory Jubilee voyages

Further details of the day’s events will be released in due course.

Peter Shanks comments ‘Cunard is delighted to be able to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in a way that will give everyone, especially our passengers, a truly remarkable day that they will feel proud to talk about for years to come, taking part in history and marking the sixty glorious years of Her Majesty’s reign in a fitting, memorable and spectacular way.’

The multi-million pound overhaul to the ship named by HM The Queen in 1995, also includes the addition of Sorrento*, the new Italian restaurant concept also launched on Adonia, but this time with an outdoor dining area; a newly designed aft deck with bar; refreshed decoration in the public areas and Oasis Spa, which also now features thermal loungers and a dedicated aerobics floor; and a new look to the Al Fresco Mediterranean cafe. Oriana departs today on a 17 night Western Mediterranean Christmas and New Year cruise, before departing on a 97 night world cruise on January 5, 2012. P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow, said: “It is wonderful to welcome Oriana back into the fleet today with a fresh new look including new cabins, new dining options and all exclusively for adults. “Oriana is the most established ship in our fleet, having been named by HM The Queen in 1995. Since then she has carried hundreds of thousands of British cruisers all over the world and I know that everyone will be excited to see her after her latest make-over.” *A cover charge will apply in Ocean Grill by Marco Pierre White (£12.95) and Sorrento (£5.00).

You can view recent photos of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 HERE including photos of the recently refurbished Queen Mary 2 public rooms. the new carpets were very soft under foot.

I would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy 2012!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

P&O Cruises will have top names from the highly-rated BBC programme on two Oriana cruises – a 12 night Canary Islands cruise on 28th May 2012 and a 14 night Fjords cruise on 14th July 2012. Passengers can learn how to jive, foxtrot, rumba, quickstep and more from the professionals and join acerbic judge Craig Revel-Horwood for a night in the theatre.

As some of Strictly Come Dancing’s most loved professionals show off their award-winning routines, passengers will also be able to see a collection of the exquisitely intricate costumes worn by the celebrities and stars this series.

P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow said: “We are so excited to bring the magic of the Strictly ballroom to Oriana this summer. Our passengers will be able to learn with the professional dancers, watch extraordinary show dances and hear some of the secrets of this global phenomenon.”

Richard Halliwell, Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With The Stars’ commercial brand director, said: “The Strictly brand is very well suited to an ocean cruise given the heady mixture of elegance, romance, high-class entertainment and exhilarating destinations. We’re very excited about this new adventure with P&O Cruises and I believe Craig Revel-Horwood has already packed his bags!”

Prices for Oriana’s X206 12 night Canary Islands cruise departing 28th May 2012 start at £1,349 per person. Departing from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Ponta Delgada, Horta, Madeira, Gran Canaria, Lisbon and Vigo.

Prices for Oriana’s X212 14 night Fjords cruise departing  14th July 2012 start at £1,599 per person. Departing from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Stavanger, Alesund, Trondheim, cruise in Trondheimsfjord, Ny Alesund, Tromso, Bergen, Eidfjord and cruise in Hardangerfjord.

Dancing with the Stars is one of BBC Worldwide’s flagship brands. Sold to over 75 countries worldwide, with 35 local versions produced, it is a global phenomenon which now holds the Guinness World Record for the Most Successful Reality TV Format of all time.

Queen Mary 2 is back after her refit with a new look Commodore Club, Golden Lion pub, and the Veuve Clicquot champagne bar looks better than ever with a sparking makeover. 1200 workers have worked on the refit and fitted new carpets and lighting in all the staterooms and many of the public areas. The 1310 staterooms have all had a makeover, with especially designed carpet inspired by the Q of QM2. Gracious new styling has taken place in both the Queens and Princess Grill dining areas. And the Grand Lobby is looking more inviting than ever with a top to toe makeover. Sir Samuels and Canyon Range spa were also included in the refurb.

Watch this short video and see for yourself how stunning she is – not that she hasn’t always been!

I will be onboard Queen Mary 2 myself on Monday attending a function and hope I get chance to see all the enhancements for myself. Watch this space!!

Staterooms – We will refurbish every stateroom on board Queen Mary 2 – all 1,310 of them. Each of the Queen’s Grill Grand Duplex, Master and Penthouse Suites will receive a fresh individual design. All of our Queen’s Grill Suites, Princess Grill and Britannia Staterooms will receive new carpets, curtains, bedcovers, linen and some will also see new soft furnishings. The designs will be very much in keeping with the current designs and with the overall ship – but with a fresh look. I am really pleased with how they will look and our returning loyal guests will I am sure be delighted. I have always recognised just how important it is to feel comfortable in your stateroom – a home from home. The designs on Queen Mary 2 are very enduring and when the ship returns to service in December her staterooms will be more appealing and comfortable than ever.

Golden Lion Pub – our guests have worn the Pub out. The Pub lunches are more popular than ever, the bar area is always busy and sport and musical events are increasingly popular. So we have completely redesigned this room. Below are a couple of shots of how the new Pub will look. It recreates the best of British Pubs as well as the comfortable American Country Club feel. We will achieve more comfortable seats and more of them. We will have new and improved screens for sporting events and we will still be able to have our famous Jazz evenings and daytime activities.

Canyon Ranch – goes from strength to strength on Queen Mary 2. One of the highlights of our Canyon Ranch is the wet area and Spa Pool. Well we are completely refurbishing the teak surrounds of the pool and doing a lot of work in other areas of the spa. We will have a range of new exercise machines in the gym area and some new and improved features in the salon. Canyon ranch are one of our most prized partnerships – when it comes to health, relaxation, exercise and wellness – they are the real thing and I am so pleased we are investing in further improving the facilities.

Commodore Club – one of the most iconic bar locations at sea up on deck 9 forward. No radical changes here – but as you can see form the design layout below we are investing in new carpets and refurbishing and adding to our beautiful white leather furniture.

Children’s Club – one of Cunard’s best keep secrets. We have excellent facilities – but although they were industry leading in 2004 it is time for us to invest further in the facilities. We will refurbish the area, including the very latest in electronic gaming and entertainment – I am looking forward to trying them out for myself.

Sir Samuel’s – Originally designed when the ship came into service as a venue to offer the very best in classic wines. The advent of Cappuccinos, Lattes and Espresso has changed our approach and the room is very busy day and night. So time for new carpets and some new chair covers which will give the room a real lift.

Grill Restaurants – We will lay down a new carpet design for both the Queen’s Grill and Princess Grill Restaurants. These will be very much in keeping with the overall design but I think will give a lighter feel to both restaurants – which remain amongst the best restaurants at sea or on land.

Carpets – We will be refreshing the carpets in many areas of decks 2 and 3 both in public rooms and through our wonderful central walkways and landings. In one or two areas – and our guests have mentioned this on the blog – we have some wear and tear of the flooring under the carpet. We refurbished much of this in the last refit and will complete the work this time round.

What are we not doing – One area that I have received questions on is Kings Court – the equivalent to The Lido area on Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. Given it’s location, and the fact that it covers such a large area with many sections – some of our guests have in the past found the area can be quite confusing – especially the first time you visit it. To make significant changes to the actual structure of this area would be very difficult and prohibitively expensive given it’s scale. So we have been tackling this in different ways. We have been looking carefully at customer flow, our food and beverage offering and in particular how we best manage the service in Kings Court. We have plans to increase the alternative dining opportunities and themed evenings, and removing possible confusion by not having too many different serving stations at breakfast. This has significantly improved the situation and we will continue to focus here and make sure we create the appropriate experience for our guests.

Other areas– as ever we will take the opportunity to complete the regulatory and necessary checks and works below deck and that program is in place. Interestingly part of the technical work will be to add a Skycon to the ship. What is a Skycon I hear you say? You may have seen them on other ships but surprisingly Queen Mary 2 did not have this feature. It is a small rail that goes round the higher decks of the ship, to which you add a cage for the deck crew to clean and maintain many of the external railings and windows. When in port you will often see Cherry Pickers around Queen Mary 2 – tall extended cage like cranes to reach those parts that man simply cannot reach. With the addition of a Skycon we will be better able to maintain these areas of the ship and not have the expense of Cherry Pickers in port, so there you have it – some inside knowledge on what we have to do to make the ship look as she does.

To make this happen we will be adding enough carpet to cover 10 football pitches. We will be adding miles of fabric – and we will have a team of thousands of workers to make it happen.

In these tough economic times it remains very important for us to continue to invest in both the technical and hotel areas of our ships. With Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth we are fortunate to have two very young ships that provide a fabulous experience for our guests. In Queen Mary 2 we have something very special, the most famous ocean liner in the world and a ship that still turns heads everywhere she goes – she is unquestionably the pride of our fleet. And that is why we will be investing in the ship and in our future guests experience through the upcoming refit.

 Cunard Line, one of the oldest names in shipping but with the youngest fleet at sea, is to offer its guests the opportunity to be married on board for the first time in its 171-year history.

Peter Shanks, Cunard President and Managing Director, explains:

“Most of our competitors have been developing increasingly popular and lucrative Weddings at Sea programmes, and these are now very big business in the cruise industry. We receive a lot of enquiries about the possibility of being married on one of our ships particularly about weddings mid-Atlantic on board Queen Mary 2, which no other company can offer”.

Cunard’s ‘Weddings at Sea’ programme will begin after the World Voyages have been completed in Spring 2012 and will offer a number of packages on all three ships. A brochure detailing the programme will be issued in November, and the programme will go on sale in December 2011.

If you are considering a Wedding at Sea I can highly recomend it. As well as arranging many other happy other couples big day at sea, I also arranged my own Wedding blessing at sea, so I have first hand experience.

Contact me on 02476 742135 for more details and be among the first to be married at sea on one of the 2012 Cunard Voyages!

Since then Queen Elizabeth has sailed over 125 000 nautical miles and carried over 50 000 guests. In January she set off on her Maiden World Voyage. She has had a series of Inurgural voyages plus her Maiden Christmas voyage. Cunard Queen Elizabeth has spent her first summer sailing from Southampton on a series of Mediterranean and Northern voyages, including her Maiden Round Britain voyage with the very special event in Liverpool. She has recently had her Maiden visits to Boston and Halifax during her latest North America voyage.

Guests onboard will celebrate Queen Elizabeths First Anniversary on Wednesday 12th October in Valleta, Malta to coincide with the anniversary of her Maiden Voyage in 2010.

This short video celebrates that memorable day and her highlights from her first year of service.

To Celebrate the First Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth Cunard are offering complimentary spending money of upto $1500 per couple on all 2012 voyages of 7 nights or more (excludes World voyage)

Inside Stateroom $100 OBC per person

Outside stateroom $150 OBC  per person

Balcony stateroom $300 OBC per person

Princess Grill $500 OBC per stateroom

Queens Grill $750 OBC per person

Applies to new bookings only confirmed between 11th October to 31st October 2011.

Contact me for more details on 02476 742135

As England’s rugby team competes in the World Cup in New Zealand, P&O Cruises own rugby team, the Ventura Vikings, is getting set for its fourth season playing in the Caribbean.

The Vikings rugby team was established in 2008 by Ventura’s youth director, Mark Price (33), after he decided to do something about missing his rugby playing days at home.

The first season saw Mark taking a bag of old rugby shirts and boots sourced from his local rugby club, Tynedale in Northumberland, out to the Caribbean. His first major challenge was to convince 15 fellow crew members, almost exclusively football players, that rugby was the sport for them.

Mark explained the rules of the game to them as they travelled on the coach to their first match at the Barbados Rugby Club’s home ground, the prestigious Garrison Savannah.

Support for Ventura’s rugby team has increased over the following three seasons with players now consisting of crew and officers from all areas of the ship.

Success has been mixed with just five wins over the past three seasons, however the team members are not disheartened.

Mark, whose job involves overseeing the day to day running of all the children facilities on board said:

“We have made a lot of friends in Barbados and the game is bringing the crew together which is fantastic. Everyone who has been involved has really enjoyed the experience and while not every result went our way, we go from strength to strength with every match.

“Last season we only just lost against Barbados’ national team so we are really looking forward to getting back out to the Caribbean this winter and giving it another shot.”

Support for the team continues to grow, with banners displayed around the capital, Bridgetown, announcing the arrival of the “mighty Ventura Vikings all the way from the UK” every time the ship arrives in port.

The Vikings fourth season starts in November and runs until March 2012, while Ventura is in the Caribbean. Rugby matches are played on the ships turnaround days in Barbados.