"QE2 - My Home" From Louis

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

5 January 1990 New York
QE2 is ready to sail on its World Cruise.We embark only around 900 paxs today,there will be more embarking in Fort Luaderdale.This is my first full World Cruise.For the next 88 days ill have my dream come true,ever port is going to be an excitement.I will be working in the Club Lido during the whole World Cruise i only start to work at 17h00 hours so i will have time off.7th January we sail from Fort Lauderdale with a full ship on its first segment to Los Angeles.After 1 one day at sea we arrive at St Thomas then 1 day at sea to Curacao.On the 13th we arrive at the Panama Canal for our transit.What a day this was going to be.

more to follow..........

Excellent idea, Louis, to take us on a World Cruise! Thank you for the story and the pictures -- such a pleasure to relive some of those days!

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Here is a normal operatinonal orders for a cruise.This is given to the head of deparments from the bridge and it is also put up on the information boards throughout the ship.

Louis, thank you for letting us see these very comprehensive orders! Could I ask -- these programmes indicate the dress code for each evening. Did this matter only to officers, or did it also affect your own (or other crew members') attire or operations in some way?

[Blue Bombay]

The dress code was mainly for officers.

[Blue Bombay]

Heres more photos of the transit

[Blue Bombay]

And one more

[Blue Bombay]

14th January 1991
With the Panama Canal behind us we are now in the Pacific Ocean.We have now 2 days at sea to Acapulco.The weather is hot ,sunnny and a low swell.Today was just a nice normal day at sea for passengers and crew.
15th January 1991
This morning the QE2 was greeted with another lovely sunny day at sea.At 10.15 the crew had Boat Drill i belong to the Special Party Muster.I am part of the fwd fire party.We had to simulate a fire in the Crew Mess Galley.Apart from that another day at sea.
Tomorrow we are in Acapulco looking forward for a day on the beach..............


Louis

[Rob Lightbody]

Love the one with the bridge wing, thats superb - look at their wee 'gazebo' rigged up to shield them from the sun!

[Twynkle]

Hey Louis

Your photos and 'Diary' are simply SUPERB!
Thank you very much for sharing them with us.

The bridge sun-shade looks to be a great idea, specially for needing to be on the 'look out' in the Panama Canal
 - I wonder whether the open part of the bridge was ever out of bounds when it was windy - and not on the canal?

[Blue Bombay]

16th January 1991
Today we arrived in Acapulco,what a lovely day it is.We dropped off anchor in the bay.This is a tender port therefore only passengers are allowed first and only when the Bridge announces *open gangway for crew*,can we go ashore.At 10h00 i was sitting in tender 10 with my mates ready to go.We went straight to the beach had lunch and a few beers after that we went to see the Divers,wow are those guys crazy.By 15h00 was back onboard need to sleep,back to work at 18h00.

17th January 1991
A day at sea towrds LA.Today we had Wages pay out(only for crew that are not on leave).and captains crew cabin inspection.

18th January 1991
Final day at sea before LA,today all crew had to go through the US IMMIGRATION SERVICES,this was held in the crew library on one deck fwd theres was also USPH inspection this was mainly for the galleys.

Tomorrow we arrive in LA what a chaos that is going to be....................

[Cunardqueen]

Like everyone else this World Cruise is awesome !! Keep it coming
LA sounds like fun.....
 Just a question, with the wages, were you paid in cash? or a bank account, 

[Blue Bombay]

The wages are paid in cash US dollars.You dont have to pick up the full amount.There is also the crew bank-The Barclays-there you can send money home.

Louis

[Blue Bombay]

19th January 1991
After a crew leave party last night and only 3 hours sleep and with heavy hangover i got up around 8 oclock.Looking through the porthole i see we are docked already in LA.Looking around my cabin(425) i am happy to be moving out,this would be my last time in a 4 berth cabin.Outside theres a lot of movement and noise,i suppose the storing hatch-cabin is right next to it- is open and stores are already coming in.Time to pack my stuff the next cabin is 412 not that far.My cabin mate will be Keith is coming from leave today.At this very moment on the aft end crew cabins the police and sniffer dogs are busy and i heard later they also went through public rooms.
Today there is also a crew leave change about 250+ crew are off and with the some amount joining again plus a few new ones.For the crew at are on leave they have to be on the quayside latest 1 hour before buses leave,there is customs to go through and before the luggage is stowed on the buses the sniffer dogs while make there round.The phillipino crew are on another group they have there own cheif crew steward they fly the other way.This crew of 250+that are flying to Europe will all be put on one plane.A couple of years later this ended,crew started to fly on more than one plane.Reason for this is that there were complains that crew were noisy and loud and on one occasion half way through the flight booze run out.
This morning the ship has to be ready for USPH inspection.The announcement for Crew Shore leave was only around 11 oclock i managed get to off.Went to Ports Of Call for lunch and some shopping.When arriving back to the ship you could notice that things were more calmer the buses with the crew on leave had left already.The First Officer was on the quayside with a couple of  the ships divers.This is done offten they dive under the ship for inspection.Now we have 3 full days at sea to Honolulu..........


Louis


Thats me off to lunch

[Blue Bombay]

I hope everyone has been enjoying my posts,there is more to follow but my scanner has given up.
Any questions are welcomed.
Heres on more of the grand lady.

[Twynkle]

Louis
Thank you for all your lovely posts
And it's a shame about your scanner - I'm sorry.

You have been showing us just so much of your life aboard the Great Lady
and although you will miss your scanner for your own things,
it would be greedy if we expected more!

You say - please ask questions...
You have answered lots already, often through your  posts.

I still don't know how you guys all managed, having to spend so much time at work,
or below decks in what must have been really cramped conditions, specially in bad weather.

[Blue Bombay]

With all the chaos of LA behind us,we set sail for Honolulu 3 days at sea thats the normal routine back(most of the crew love sea days).The first day at sea nothing much happened.Second at sea the weather turned grayish and the sea became a bit choppy lots of *white horses*around,we also had Boat Brill this morning.On third day the weather became better with a slight swell.The crew had to go through US IMMIGRATION SERVICES again.Tomorrow we dock in Honolulu,Waikki beach i come..................

Louis

[Kev]

Louis
You really should write a book from a crewmembers perspective. I don't think so much great new info has been presented before from this avenue other than perhaps from the Comm Warwick books

[Blue Bombay]

23th January 1991
At 7h30 this morning the QE2 docks in Honolulu alongside Starboard Side to berth 10.I was up and about by 9oclock i was dying to go ashore.First thing i done was call home there was phones on the dockside.Then i took a taxi to Waikki beach,i have never seen a beach so crowded.It was good.After that i had a stroll through town center.Onboard this morning the boats on Port Side had to be lowered by manning crew.At midnight we were off to Suva,Fiji,over the next 4 days at sea we will be crossing the Equator and International Dateline.

[Chris]

Louis - absolutely magnificent memoirs here - thank you kindly for posting!

I have several shots of my trans-Panama cruise in January 1998 here you may be interested in seeing: http://www.chriscunard.com/qe2-1998.htm

Keep the posts coming!

[Chris]

One of QE2's crew bars (I'm sure Louis has plenty of stories from here) - note the Queens Room carpeting - photo taken in March 2008.

[Blue Bombay]

Sorry Chris i have more memories of this one The Castaways Bar,the girl there with me is Anja my wife to be.
P.S. sorry for the finger

[Chris]

Nice - who was behind the camera?!

Here's a shot I took of the Crew Mess - the Coca Cola was far cheaper for the crew than the passengers

[Blue Bombay]

Heres one of the 2th crew cabin as you can see its very small and tight,the showers and toilets are shared.For example on 4 deck fwd theres is 25 crew cabins(21of 2th berth and 4 of 4th berth that is 58 crew there is 2 bathrooms with showers and toilet.Theres a total of 10 showers between both.
 
Louis

[Blue Bombay]

Nice - who was behind the camera?!

My boss 

[Chris]

lol - that explains the finger 

[Chris]

Interesting to see the porthole there in the bathroom.

[mrkpnh (Malcolm K)]

Interesting to see the porthole there in the bathroom.

And no curtain covering it! I agree - you'd have thought bathrooms were very low down the list when it came to requiring natural light. Where was the bathroom? Could it have been so far forward that there wasn't room for a room amidships?

[Blue Bombay]

That the bathroom is on Three deck aft female crew accomadtion.The bathrooms on Four and Five deck fwd have portholes.
Its marked on the below photo-i think its the porthole on the right on the marked section.

[mrkpnh (Malcolm K)]

That the bathroom is on Three deck aft

So out come my plans to look. I see that the Four and Five Deck Bathrooms are right at the bow. There isn't the space across the boat, at that point, for more than that room . However the bathrooms at the stern of Deck Four only occupy about 1/2 of the beam on the starboard side and 1/6 of the beam on the port. There are six cabins between them that are totally enclosed. I wonder why the bathrooms weren't amidships and two of the cabins could have had portholes?

[Blue Bombay]

The bathrooms on Four and Five deck fwd run across from port to staboard side,on both decks theres another set of bathrooms aft of the number 1 hatch.The ones on Four and Five deck aft are on the outside,lots of crew cabins are amidship but no bathrooms.

[mrkpnh (Malcolm K)]

Thank you

[Blue Bombay]

With 4 full days at sea towards Suva,Fiji,we will be having two big highlights one is crossing the Equator the other is the International Dateline.


Louis

[Blue Bombay]

29th January 1991
After 4 full days at sea we arrive in Suva,Fiji.
The day was hot but rainy here and there.I went ashore around lunch just for some shopping then went to the Travel Lodge Hotel for lunch then ened up in a bar with friends.Today is the 23rd day into the World Cruise its beeen an awesome time.Next stop is Auckland,New Zealand..................


Louis

[Blue Bombay]

30th January 1991
Last night after sailing from Suva we got a heavy weather warning.The ship was moving about today.This morning we had Boat Drill too and wages payment-money is always a good thing.


31st January 1991
The day began with calmer seas.There was Captain inspection to Crew Cabins.At 18h00 theres a function in the Club Lido for the Golden Spa.

[Twynkle]

Hi Louis

Your World Cruise sound really good, some fun places too - Thank you!

And you mention the Captain's  inspection of Crew cabins,
I can remember our Headmistress' room inspections at school - these were scary.
Hope the Captain's weren't as bad!

[Blue Bombay]

Every voyage there is Captains inspection of Crew Accommodation,this is carried out by senior officers.Cabin has to be clean and tiday,beds made and the lifjackets on them.Any effects found in the cabin from passenger accommodation will be removed and disciplinary action taken.

Louis

[Blue Bombay]

01 February 1991
This morning we arrived in Auckland,New Zealand.Went out after arrival for a shopping tour and lunch.This was the first overnight on this World Cruise at night my friends and i went out drinking,great night only came back to ship early this morning.Then i slept until lunchtime.Later i was on embarkation duty.Did not go ashore today.After today we will have one day at sea towards Lyttelton.Arriving there on the 4th...............

Louis.

[mrkpnh (Malcolm K)]

great night only came back to ship early this morning.Then i slept until lunchtime.

Louis - one of the things I am really enjoying about your diary is that it gives a totally different perspective to a cruise on the QE2. As passengers we boarded and were looked after; we didn't have to bother about those who were pampering us. You are giving us details of an area of the ship that most of us never saw and they are fascinating. Thank you

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Louis - one of the things I am really enjoying about your diary is that it gives a totally different perspective to a cruise on the QE2. As passengers we boarded and were looked after; we didn't have to bother about those who were pampering us. You are giving us details of an area of the ship that most of us never saw and they are fascinating. Thank you

I so agree! You are giving us another World Cruise here, Louis, and I am so grateful to see it all again, from a different angle that we had only guessed before.

How was embarkation duty? Did you have to do it often?

[Blue Bombay]

Embarkation duty for us in the bars just means that the bars have to be all open during embarkation, on this World Cruise i done it 3 times.In the bars we also have whats called a Cleaning Gang,its a group of us maybe around + -10 that spend a morning cleaning this is only done in mostly Southampton or New York when theres no one around.For waiters they have to stand by the Midships lobby and help the passengers to there cabins.


Louis

[Blue Bombay]

Once i was on Cleaning Gang in New York we had to clean the Queens Room.During most of the morning while we were there,there was also a guy tunning the piano,what a headache i got after that........

[mrkpnh (Malcolm K)]

For waiters they have to stand by the Midships lobby and help the passengers to there cabins.

I remember the stewards standing in the Midships Lobby waiting to show you to your cabin. I admit that, until this moment, I had never given a thought to what the other crew would be doing

[Blue Bombay]

Not to forget also by embarkation time the kitchen chefs are all on full swing preparing for dinner,on this case for 837 passengers.

[Blue Bombay]

5th February 1991
Today just after lunch we entered The Milford Sound,New Zealand
It was bitter cold but wonderful scenery.By 17h00 we cleared it and sailed on to Hobart,Tasmania.

[Blue Bombay]

Bombay,India

[Blue Bombay]

Ever wonder how your table cloth or napkin in the restaurant are washed?Or your bedlinen?Or your cocktail dress or tuxedo?The Crew uniform or the crew personal laundry?Well its all done on Seven Deck by what we call the Chinese Laundry.The crew their are all Chinese i have no clue how many there are.They dont mix with the rest of the crew and very rare see the daylight of sun.They have their own kitchen and eating room next to the laundry.Once everthing is washed its taken to a room next door.That is were the Linenkeeper is and he hands it all back.For the crew personal clothes we put the dirty laundry into a bag with name and cabin number on it then we put it in a trolley outside the laundry.Theres a room were all the clean laundry is kept,we picked it up from there.The crew laundry is paid direct to the chinese man.Theres is also a few laundry rooms around the crew areas,for those who want to do it them selfs.

[Twynkle]

Hi Louis
Thank you - again and again!
Having lived in NZ (near Lylttleton harbour - and paddled in the Milford Sound!) ,
 it's really good to know that you and QE2 have been there too!
Rosie

[Blue Bombay]

More fotos of the QE2 in the Milford Sound.

[Cunardqueen]

Regarding the Laundry, if anyone can remember Alan Whicker was down in that area on his Fast Boat to China and it gave an insight as to how long hours they work and how many months, slave labour did spring to mind.

Interesting to  hear that prep for dinner starts at embarkation time, Any idea when the breakfast prep starts? On one of the Canberra tapes it showed them with trays and trays of bacon going under the grills at some ungodly hour.

Is it tue that that the staff in the Queens Room on for afternon teas were paid a bit extra for that shift or was it part of their duty?  You would quite often hear the waitng staff reeling of their shifts, and some would mention Teas and roll their eyes

Louis, what jobs onboard did you really enjoy and what didnt you find so enjoyable? l think when you work in the hotel industry it does give  a greater insight as to what goes on behind the scenes onboard QE2

I know where l work, when we have functions what might seem be a simple request from a guest, can in truth be a nightmare, One that springs to mind was the decaff coffee not that lm saying its common practise but certain members of staff would pass of coffee with a bit extra water as decaff and out it went.
 For me l used to enjoy the rapport with the waiting/bar staff

[Blue Bombay]

Good morning from a rainy and stomy Germany
First to answer the questions from Cunardqueen:
Breakfast prep i would say its about 2 hours before starting time,the bakery for example works around the clock so does the room service area.Theres on scene in the galley that i thought was always sad is this one phillipino crew that spends the day just squezzing fresh orange juices its kilos after kilos.

As for afternoon tea its part of the their duty just like embarkation no extra pay.There is crew that sale their teas it go from 30 dollars at sea to 100 dollars if the ship is in Sydney for example.

As for my jobs i started as a deck steward up on helicopter deck my first 2 contracts was spend there you work up to 12-14 hours a day i almost have no time off in port.When you are new they put a lot of pressure on you-this is department basis pressure not ship overall.After that i moved inside to Public Room Steward-PRS.I never worked in the Casino or Queens Grill lounge.My best bar to work was the old Midship Bar great moments i had there.The worse was Grand Lounge and Queens Room.In August 1992 i left the QE2 until May 1993-i got a chance to work another ship to cruise in the Amazon and Antarctica i could not refuse this offer.Back on the QE2 in August 1993 i became Restaurant Bars Barkeeper.I was relief Barkeeper then in the restaurants.There was 3 restaurant bars-Mauri,Queens Grill and Main Bar,for 3 barkeepers + 1 one that was on leave.After the refit in 1994 their became 4 restaurants bars the new added in Mauri which itself moved to Quarter Deck.I took over this bar until when i left in 1998.I think i had the best job on the ship.

For those things that i didnt find so enjoyable was not many i had more better times than bad ones.We leave that for later..............

Louis.

[Blue Bombay]

Heres a foto of the Mauri after the refit,see the red square?Thats the bar,and thats me behind it.

[Blue Bombay]

This is me in the Main Bar during Midnight Buffet-buffet here was still held in the old Columbia.The Main Bar is in the galley just ouside the Princess Grill.

[Bob C.]

Heres a foto of the Mauri after the refit,see the red square?Thats the bar,and thats me behind it.

It's amazing to see the same style of chair carry over to each phase of this restaurant - Britannia, Tables of the World, Mauritania.  Just a change of the color/fabric:  Cunard red and white formica and naugahide, same in dark black/green and what is seen above.   

[Blue Bombay]

7 February 1991
This morning we arrived in Hobart,Tasmania i was not feeling well,therefore i didnt go ashore.

8 February 1991
Midafternoon we entered Sydney harbor one of the ports i was really looking for.We had a great welcome so many little boats come out to greet us and all those people on the shores its out of this world.Cant wait for tonight to go and see the nightlife its Friday so the place will be packed- i hope i find my way back ...................

[Blue Bombay]

2 more from Sydney

[Blue Bombay]

9th February 1991
After an amazing night out in the Kings Cross and with only 3 hours sleep i had to go to The Rocks for breakfast.The weather was lovely i had a full day in front of me.Next i went to the Opera House,the Sydney Tower have lunch somewhere and some shopping.It was one the the best days i had.At midnight we set sail,the place was choked with people saying goodbye you just see flashs in the night.Then the Captain blew the horn thats makes you shiver.....
Next stop Brisbane

[Rob Lightbody]

Louis,

Your fascinating topic on here has earned itself a link from the front page of the main website.

http://www.theqe2story.com/

Hope thats OK!

Cheers,

- Rob.

[Blue Bombay]

Thank you very much Rob, i didnt expect that

 

[mickey g]

Hi Louis

All this is fascinating stuff, thankyou.

Is it not possible to pursuade any more of your ex colleauges to share their memories below decks to those of us confined to above decks (believe you me I would have loved to have seen your side of the ship, never got the chance though? 

Strangely enough I was so enchanted with her that it just did not even occur to me to try and see the working part of the ship, perhaps I left it all too late, still I did have some fab experiences

[Blue Bombay]

10 th February 1991
With all the excitment of Sydney behind us we had a quite day at sea.
This morning we had Boat Drill the normal routine again,our position at midday was
Lat:S:29:28:33
Long:E:153:40:33
the sea was flat like a mirror in the afternoon i went to the Funnel Deck for same sun took a 6 pack of beer with me.
At 17h00 i started my shift in Club Lido what a night this was going to be.Around 20h30 things were quite so a went for a long break.I came back around 23h00 and the place was full of Aussies.Theres was this group of 40 guys partying away completly loud and drank.Just after 2 in the morning they started to jump in the pool one by one.What a sight that was with all 40 in the pool we had to call security.I finished work around 4 then we all had a seat in the magrodome and had a few drinks.Then i went to bed need to sleep for tomorrow.

[Blue Bombay]

Heres the Club Lido team-thats me in the blue jacket