QE2 Deck Officer, 2002-2006, Cunard 2001-2011

[holynougat]

I worked with Cunard for nearly 11 years as a Deck Officer, attaining the Rank of Chief Officer on the Queen Mary 2.

I did most of my Cadetship onboard QE2 and worked onboard as a Deck Officer when I qualified.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Hello holynougat (there must be a story attached to that name!) and thank you for your introduction.

You worked on what so many of us consider to be the greatest passenger ship ever, and everything after that must be a disappointment of sorts. But you were on QE2 for some of her best times, and with some of her best crew, and I hope you carry with you some excellent memories.

It is a good while since we last heard from you -- there must be quite a few postings since then that could stir up your memory!

I hope you are enjoying what you are doing now, and that we might see you for a future Forum get-together.

[Rob Lightbody]

Hello!

You must have lots of QE2 stories, memories and photos to share?  I hope you can find some time to share them with us!

- Rob

[Twynkle]

Oh, Holy Nougat  - Greetings!

It is Very good indeed to see you back here!
Hoping all is well and not too busy with you...
When time allows - and when you have energy, time and a bit of space,
please might it be possible for you to write a bit about navigating / navigation on board QE2,
both from the early as well as the later years that you were a Deck Officer - e.g., did you (/the navigator) have any say about how to get from A to B, also did you have any say in future voyages/ Worldies etc - or was all the 'charting' done shore-side?
I wonder - when you first joined - was it charts, or had the switchover begun - and was the chart-room tiny?!
Take Care,  QM2 was missing you in Sept/Oct!
Rosie
 

[Barrie Evans]

I worked with Cunard for nearly 11 years as a Deck Officer, attaining the Rank of Chief Officer on the Queen Mary 2.

I did most of my Cadetship onboard QE2 and worked onboard as a Deck Officer when I qualified.

I recently left 'Cunard' as unfortunately the ships are now basically P&O with a red funnel.

I Think that Carol Marlow had something to do with that!

[holynougat]

I have been a member of the forum for quite a few years now, so I suppose it is probably time I 'introduced' myself!

I first set foot on QE2 when I was six years old and from that moment on I never had any doubt about what I wanted to do 'when I grew up'

Ten years later I accepted a Cadetship with Cunard and first sailed onboard the Caronia before moving on to QE2 shortly after my 17th birthday.

During my cadet ship I completed 6 trips onboard QE2 varying in length from 4 months to just a few weeks. In total I spent 18 months onboard the ship as a cadet and during that time I had the opportunity to experience pretty much everything the ship had to offer.

After qualifying as a Third Officer I again returned to QE2 for my first qualified trip. I am not sure if I hold the record for the youngest Deck Officer ever to work on QE2, but I feel I must be pretty close!

After two trips on QE2 I was transferred over to QM2 and eventually sailed as Chief Officer on that ship before leaving the company for new challenges in the industry.

When I think back to my experiences on QE2 I realize that it really was a brief moment in time that can never be repeated. Because I spent so much time on the ship as a Cadet I had thought that 'this is normal' but now I realize that somehow QE2 had become truly something unique and  I have never worked on a ship which had anything close to her personality since.

For me, the end of QE2 also coincided with the end of 'Cunard' as it had been.  I really thought that QM2 had the potential to take her crown but unfortunately the terrible mismanagement (in my opinion) of the brand by Princess and now Carnival UK mean that she is destined to be a pale version of what could have been.

Back in 2004 I was on QE2 for a dry-dock in Bremerhaven with the Norway (ex France) tied up alongside us in 'warm layup' awaiting her eventual fate following the terrible boiler explosion. While not as 'famous' as QE2, at time there were rumours that she would be returned to service, or converted into a hotel. She had a good crew from NCL on-board to keep her going and the general consensus was quite optimistic. I am sure that I am not the only one to draw parallels between these two ships.

I now work as a Staff Captain in the cruise industry and if I had the chance to help out with QE2 I would go back tomorrow - in the mean time I am getting my CV ready for 'Titanic 2'!

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Hello Holynougat (what a name! how did that happen...?  ) -- thank you for having introduced yourself! You have been so much part of us here that I almost feel I know you, but there is of course so much more to tell!

Good to see your QE2 story in context. We knew you knew the ship very well and had been on board at various key moments of her life.  Interesting also to hear your views on QM2 -- and sorry to hear them, as it would have been wonderful to have had a worthy successor for QE2 on the high seas!

Could you tell us a bit more about what a cadetship involved for you, and what a Deck Officer does? Between those tours of duty on QE2, were you working on another ship, or were you on leave?

More questions will be coming, I'm sure, but I shall stop here for the time being .

[Barrie Evans]

Hi Holynougat. Thanks for your story about your Q E 2 experience, and how fore filling it must of been for you to of made your dream come true and successfully return to the Q E 2 as a Third Officer. "Well done"

I'm sure that you will get lots of questions from the forum members about your sailings with the Q E 2.
My question to you is, please can you tell me the date of your first cruise as Third officer, and the date of your final cruise, before you joined the Q M 2.

In friendship
Barrie Evans

[holynougat]

Because Cunard only had 2 ships back then (these days there is no such thing as a 'Cunard' cadet - or officer for that matter) I did my whole cadetship apart from one trip on Caronia onboard QE2. Between time on QE2 I was in Warsash doing the academic part of the course.
QM2 is actually a fantastic ship - the best ship I have ever worked on in many ways, really a marvel of modern naval architecture and she has a really special feel. A true 'queen' I just wish they had called QV and QE something else to maintain QM2 in the spotlight and had pushed to maintain 'Cunard' as a really premium brand.
I was on QE2 as a Third Officer end of 2005 - mid 2006.
HolyNougat - Long story.
I will get around to writing my memories of being a cadet / officer on there one day!

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

HolyNougat - Long story.
I will get around to writing my memories of being a cadet / officer on there one day!

Looking forward to that .

It must have been a fantastic experience to do your whole cadetship on QE2 (and a bit on Caronia) and then to get a fair taste of QM2 as well.

I am sure that we passengers do not catch even a fraction of what makes these ships so special!

[June Ingram]

Yes, most definitely, when you can, please tell us more in detail about your time especially aboard our QE2.  Thanks !  June