Queen Mary 2 To Bring Home A Very Special Cargo

Posted on 4 October, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

When Queen Mary 2 arrives in Southampton on Wednesday 8 October she will be bringing home a very special cargo – the final sandbag to make the journey from the First World War cemeteries in Belgium containing soil from those cemeteries to create a Flanders Field Memorial Garden.

The arrival of the sandbag, and its subsequent onward journey to The Guards Museum in London marks the culmination of a project begun several years ago when the idea first formed to build a Memorial Garden containing soil brought back from every battlefield in Flanders where soldiers of the seven regiments of the Household Division died in World War 1.

This has been a unique project in that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission had previously never allowed soil to leave the battlefield cemeteries. The 70 bags of soil were gathered by British and Belgian school children during the summer of 2013 and over 1,000 children from 140 schools took part. His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and His Royal Highness Prince Laurent of the Belgians attended a ceremony at The Menin Gate in Ypres on 11 November 2013 when the sandbags of soil were brought together for the journey to England. That journey took place on a frigate from Belgium to the Thames when the sandbags were then moved on to a King’s Troop RHA gun carriage with a mounted escort accompanying it to its final resting place in Wellington Barracks. Her Majesty The Queen will open the garden in November.

The final sandbag will be taken from the Ypres Cemetery and under the iconic Menin Gate will be presented to Captain Kevin Oprey, Master of Queen Mary 2, prior to being taken aboard the ship in Zeebrugge on 5 October to be placed on prominent display for the ship’s 2,600 passengers to view. A Commemorative Dinner for all passengers will be held on board on 6 October and Andrew Wallis, Curator of the Guards Museum, will give a lecture about this project.

After being saluted by fireboats on arrival in Southampton on 8 October Captain Kevin Oprey will present the sandbag to the Mayor of Southampton who is also Admiral of the Port. Soldiers, the Padre and military vehicles from 17 PM Regiment will welcome the sandbag home. They will then take charge of this special cargo and will progress it through the City of Southampton to the Civic Hall where it will remain overnight, and on display to the public, before its final journey in Southampton the next day: to Southampton Central station where it will take the 1300 hours departure to London Waterloo. On arrival there the sandbag will be taken to its final resting place at the Guards Museum and the Memorial.

Angus Struthers, Cunard Director, says:
“We are honoured to play a small role in such a worthwhile and thought-provoking project. The centenary of the start of the First World War was a time for all of us at Cunard to reflect on the sacrifices of that immensely brave and selfless generation as well as remember the 20 ships Cunard itself lost due to enemy action in that awful conflict. We will remember them”.

Andrew Wallis, Curator of the Guards Museum
“We at The Guards Museum are thrilled to be working with Cunard in transporting this last bag to its final resting place in Wellington Barracks. The sacrifice made by the Guards in The Great War is echoed in the huge losses suffered by Cunard’s crew and passengers so we hope everyone onboard the Queen Mary 2 will empathise and share in this act of remembrance and commemoration”.

The Flanders Field Memorial Garden

Norwegian Escape itinerary eagerness after Keel laying ceremony

Posted on 22 September, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Escape itinerary excitement with Keel laying ceremony

The Norwegian Escape Keel laying ceremony took place a few days ago, and as a result has now given people a renewed interest in looking at what itineraries are available for this new Norwegian Cruise Line ship once she enters service in October 2015.

The first of 86 blocks was laid down with a lucky coin being placed beneath this 400-ton block. This is a tradition that has gone on for yeas, and happens each time a new cruise ship has her Keel laid.

Norwegian Escape itinerary eagerness – With the Norwegian Escape progress now set to start ramping up because of hitting this milestone, we suspect that there has now been more people looking to see what the inaugural cruises are for this new ship, and how much they are likely to cost.

Norwegian Escape itinerary excitement

This information is available on Norwegian’s official page for their new ship, the Escape, which is the first Breakaway-Plus class vessel. While the choice may not be extensive at this time, you still have the option to sail to the Caribbean from Miami, although if you would rather cruise on her maiden voyage, then that will be from Southampton to Miami, Florida, US.

£2.4bn poured into Britain’s coffers last year

Posted on 22 September, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Cruise news

: £2.4bn poured into Britain’s coffers last year with more than 1m passengers getting on boardIndustry’s

contribution to country’s economy highlighted at Barcelona convention

Ship shape: the port at Southampton welcomes a cruise liner

The cruise industry contributed £2.4billion to Britain’s economy last year, with passengers spending an average of £80 a day each during visits to UK ports such as Southampton and Dover

Latest figures compiled by CruiseBritain show that in 2013 there was a 10% year-on-year increase in cruise embarkations, to 1.04 million, and a 20% increase in day visits, to 866,000. The spend includes crew expenditure, cruise line purchases, ship repair, and employee salaries.

“Cruise tourism is a valuable source of income to ports and destinations across Britain and is increasingly being factored into local and regional tourism,” said Daren Taylor, chair of CruiseBritain, speaking at the Seatrade Med convention in Barcelona.

In the Mediterranean, while other tourism sectors have seen no increase in performance, cruising has grown in volume by 43% since the global recession struck in 2008.

Across the region, there were 27 million passenger movements: 19 million in the Western Med, five million in the Adriatic, and – reduced by concerns over violence in the Middle East – three million in the Eastern Med.

Referring to the fact that most cruise calls to ports in Ukraine have been cancelled this summer, David Dingle, chairman of Carnival UK, said political conflict in the Black Sea area dates back centuries. “They are a fact if life we just live with,” he said.

A proposal to provide an alternative to dredging a new channel for cruise ships visiting Venice was submitted to the Italian government this week.

Lagoon show: a cruise ship sails past St Mark's Square in Venice — Lagoon show: a cruise ship sails past St Mark’s Square in Venice

A £101million floating jetty, capable of handling up to five ships at a time, would be set up in the sea near Bocca di Lido, and passengers would be transported into the city’s cruise terminal by a large, environmentally-friendly catamaran.

Carnival’s David Dingle still believes the deep channel proposal to be the preferred option, and told Seatrade Med: “What we want is certainty, but we want to do the right thing by all the stakeholders in this debate.”