Welcome stowaway2k!

[singlemalt]

Hello and welcome aboard

And what an arrival 
Thank you for sharing all the fabulous links to your magnificent array of photos and videos.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to be transfixed and transported back onboard by them.
I'm so envious that I never got the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful Winter crossing and see her at her best on the wild and windy Atlantic 
I hope you will enjoy your time here reliving and discussing all our memorable times onboard.

Ali

And please feel free to spread the word - we still have many fabulous cabins available here 

[stowaway2k]

Thank you!

I hope I can be worthy contributor... 

Kyle

[singlemalt]

I'm sure that will be the case Kyle!

Although we are looking to recruit new crew members.....

Do you have any hidden skills you wish to share? All contributions gratefully recieved 

Ali

[Twynkle]

Welcome from me too, Stowaway2K
As designated OOW, I missed seeing you come on board - I wonder how that happened??
 - if you should see me (dressed in an ex-mariner's day-glo jacket, with a Massive 24 hour alarm clock and super zoom Pink Field Glasses) please do offer me some food - I've been down-graded  to the Pavilion at meal-times (? for being chief- stirrer), and I will be very hungry, and not a little fed up with the Ugly Blue Mugs

[Cunardqueen]

Welcome Kyle
 Might we be in the same boat in October

[QE2_MATTHEW]

stowaway2k.

Im Matt and incharge of Vacuum cleaners  , also the musical director and hotel manager for this cruise. I hope you enjoy your stay onbaord with this eclectic group- Also hope you find a suitable position to hold within QE2 society (so to speak). Regards

[Pia]

Hello Kyle, you are very welcome here!

It's possible that I'm the purser, better make that Chief Purser, here though where the paper is that I should be pushing around or the front office staff that need to be kept busy I don't know yet (), still I'm so busy that I have only just about managed to escape the Pavillion dining experience...

See you around   

[Andy F]

Hi Stowaway2k and welcome.  Given your background and experience, I feel you would be perfect for the Security Officer position.

[stowaway2k]

Welcome Kyle
 Might we be in the same boat in October

uh oh... maybe...  why, what did you hear?

[stowaway2k]

Hi Stowaway2k and welcome.  Given your background and experience, I feel you would be perfect for the Security Officer position.

Yikes!! What have you learned about my background and experience?!  Oh no!   Whatever you've heard, it's all true.
I'm no Gurkha, but if Master at Arms is what I'm being offered... 
My first official act is to declare that everyone can keep their ID cards.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!  Glad to be aboard.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

My first official act is to declare that everyone can keep their ID cards.

Well, if you're setting out to win friends and influence people... FAST!... then you're headed in the right direction entirely. Great move!

[Andy F]

Smart move indeed Stowaway and I just knew you were the right man for the job!

[singlemalt]

Bloody hell Kyle! Just spotted your pic with a coconut in one of the other threads.

I think I've met you!!!
Was that from the QE2 Christmas 2004-5 cruise that left from New York?
And was the pic taken on an excursion riding quad bikes (ATVs?).
Didn't we follow some off road tracks and a railway (sugar plantation or something similar?)

I REALLY hope this makes sense to you? 

[QE2_MATTHEW]

Bloody hell Kyle! Just spotted your pic with a coconut in one of the other threads.

What is it with men and fruit??? SO me pineapple and Kyle with a Coconut....

[Waverley]

Matt , could we please have a larger photograph of your pineapple

[QE2_MATTHEW]

[stowaway2k]

Bloody hell Kyle! Just spotted your pic with a coconut in one of the other threads.

I think I've met you!!!
Was that from the QE2 Christmas 2004-5 cruise that left from New York?
And was the pic taken on an excursion riding quad bikes (ATVs?).
Didn't we follow some off road tracks and a railway (sugar plantation or something similar?)

I REALLY hope this makes sense to you? 

Wow!! Which one is you...   is that you right in front of me?


I look like a dork...



This was the cruise where we broke down and were dead in the water for a few hours on New Years, after leaving San Juan...   
and when a couple of very drunk Brits tried to start a fight in the Chart Room... 
and the "surprise" diversion of QM2 so that she could spend the afternoon sailing in tandem with us...



I still remember Captain McNaught's announcement... "You'll know QM2 when she approaches, she'll be the one with the stubby funnel and the funny looking stern..."

And I remember talking to anothe passenger earlier on... "QM2 is also in the Caribbean, I wonder if we'll see her?"
and the other passenger "No, she'll be nowhere near us"

[singlemalt]

Yes that's me in front - black top grey trousers

F'kin hell small world and all that stuff!!
My very first QE2 trip ever and LOVE LOVE LOVED it.

I remember hearing about the breakdown from one of my tablemates the next day but missed it myself - she was a nervous sailor and had insisted she and her husband put their life jackets on and go straight to their lifeboat instead of the Muster Station.(I'm assuming I was either a bit tipsy or fast asleep  ) It definitely wasn't me doing the fighting in the Chart Room 
I also remember there was one sea day we were alongside QM2 for a few hours. Breathtaking!

I have pics too from the trip but no digital camera then so some are on disc and others need scanning. It's a big job!
Will be posting them to flickr & will add a link in the Gallery section if you want a look 

[QE2_MATTHEW]

Gosh those tyres on that quad bike look BALD...

safety first

[stowaway2k]

Gosh those tyres on that quad bike look BALD...

safety first

And mine barely had any brakes!   
Oh well, different cultures, different standards... 
But what a heck of a lot of fun it was! 

It was a very long ride in a van from the tender dock to the plantation where the ATV tour started, so we had a very good look at life on the island.
Also, at the tour gathering spot, there was an elderly lady who though she had signed up for a bicycle tour.  What a good sport she was, she came along anyway and did great with her ATV.

[QE2_MATTHEW]

Im amazed the Cunard offfered Quad Biking on a QE2 cruise.

Congrats for the old lady who took the Quad by the bars. Go her...

[stowaway2k]

Yes that's me in front - black top grey trousers

F'kin hell small world and all that stuff!!
My very first QE2 trip ever and LOVE LOVE LOVED it.

I remember hearing about the breakdown from one of my tablemates the next day but missed it myself - she was a nervous sailor and had insisted she and her husband put their life jackets on and go straight to their lifeboat instead of the Muster Station.

Incredible, you were right in front of me!  Amazing.

The night of the breakdown, I saw several people gathering together, all in their lifejackets.
I was still up, afterall it was New Years.  The partying was still going very strong in the Yacht Club, and the breakdown did nothing to quell the festivities in there.
But it was quite eerie.  No lights at all except the emergency lights.  No ventilation either, so it got very hot in the packed Yacht Club.  
I took a walk around, so strange to have the ship pitch dark.  The light strips were on along the corridors, but that was it.  Many passengers were very nervous and irritated.  I saw some berating their stewards, so stupid and unfair of them.
There was total stillness and silence.  All the ship sounds were gone.  No hum of machinery, no creaking, no "ship sounds" at all.
After a while, some passengers came up on deck in their pajamas and night gowns to get some fresh air.  The cabins became stuffy very quickly.
One unfortunate side effect was... no plumbing.  
The toilets near the Yacht Club quickly became very unpleasant, besides being pitch dark.  No emergency lights in the toilets.
The waiters and bartenders continued on... it must have been very difficult, but carry on they did.  Cocktails were still being poured, anything that could be served without using the nozzles for water etc.  
Much of the Yacht Club party moved out onto the deck, it was just too hot inside.
But the stillness out on deck was just as eerie as inside.   We were dead still.  One could hear the ocean swells lapping up against the still hull, there was no wind, no sounds at all.
The loungers outside the Yacht Club were filling up with refugees from the stuffy cabins.  So funny to see passengers on QE2 wandering around in their sleepwear.
Captain McNaught made several announcements, so we all knew what what going on.
Slowly the lights started coming back on, and after about four hours we were underway again.
Reference were made to the Poseidon Adventure, because that was also on New Years, and someone reminded us that we were actually in the Bermuda Triangle, which added to the adventure of it all.
Never again have I boarded a ship without bringing along a small flashlight!

[Andy F]

Congrats for the old lady who took the Quad by the bars. Go her...

We've never met admittedly but even so Matt, that's no way to talk about Ali!  Seriously though, agree it does seem rather an odd pastime given the average QE2 passenger age but hey, it certainly looks fun and great pictures there Stowaway.

[singlemalt]

Kyle - FANTASTIC memories. Definitely some 'Once in a lifetime' ones there 

Congrats for the old lady who took the Quad by the bars. Go her...

We've never met admittedly but even so Matt, that's no way to talk about Ali! 

Andy you cheeky blighter  No whiskies for you in the after life for that comment!

[stowaway2k]

Oh, well, not all QE2 passengers are infirm...  
QE2 excursions have included horseback riding, snorkeling and scuba diving, bicycling, sailing, hiking, and on two different QE2 cruises I've done kayaking.

Here's me in the Copenhagen canals on a QE2 excursion...

[Andy F]

We've never met admittedly but even so Matt, that's no way to talk about Ali! 

Andy you cheeky blighter  No whiskies for you in the after life for that comment!
[/quote]

Bit unfair if I may say Ali, for I was defending your honour!

Another great shot Stowaway.  Bit adventurous for me I'm afraid given my adavancing years but certainly looks fun all the same. Amazing range of shore opportunities available - The only things I ever seem to be offered always involves walking, lots of walking lol!

[Ab Ovo]

It must run in the family ... Copenhagen canals and Leo!