Reading Length: Giant Tub ‘o’ Popcorn
Davin Reporting!
What isn’t widely known is that Cunard offers a behind the scenes tour of their ships. The tours aren’t publicized in any way, so it’s something of a secret for those of us in the know. To sign up you have to go to the purser’s desk and make a request– generally right at the beginning of your voyage, since the tour has only limited space available– to be on the tour. The tour also costs around $120, so it is not cheap, but it is 3 hours long and covers a large number of areas on the ship, so I would argue it is worth the price of admission.
Having signed up back in Sydney, today was finally the day of our behind the scenes tour of the Queen Elizabeth.
Entertainment Division
The tour started out with the theater, where we got to go up on stage, learn about some of the jobs in the entertainment department, and see the dressing room. It was an interesting perspective being up on stage, but it seems that what we saw with the theater completely lit was not the experience of the performers. When the theater is blacked out during a show, with bright lights shining on the stage, they apparently can’t see much beyond the first couple of rows.
The theater on the Queen Elizabeth is different from a lot of theaters on land. To begin with, the theater gets a lot of use. It is used not only for guest lecturers, but to show movies, and to present the shows of both guest entertainers and the Cunard singers and dancers, as well as allow time for any rehearsals that are needed As a result, it has to be reconfigured numerous times during the day, and often ends up being in use from 9 in the morning until past 11 at night.
The other important consideration for the theater is that it is based on a ship where the ground is unstable. As a result, all of the props need to be secured backstage to make sure they don’t end up getting broken. The lighting also has to be smart lights which can all be adjusted, since they will otherwise quickly end up out of whack. Unstable seas can also sometimes lead to cancelled shows.
Backstage we saw the dressing rooms for the dancers and found out that the dance troupe and singers are currently being provided by a production company named Qdos. The main thing I noticed about the dressing rooms is that they have numerous mirrors which are surrounded by incandescent bulbs. With each bulb putting out more than 560 watts of heat, it was like standing in a room filled with space heaters. The dressing room ceiling was also open to the costume room above, which struck me as not really being all that private. Perhaps, it’s just an occupational hazard?
[Kristin Interjection: The singers and dancers told us that they run off stage to do costume changes several times per show. They each lay their costumes out a certain way and memorizing how to put on and off the costumes is as important to the show as their singing and dancing. No one is allowed to touch each other’s stuff, or it could derail the entire show. Anyway, they strip down and redress in front of each other all the time out of necessity, so I don’t think they care if they are seen naked. It’s all part of their job.]
Mooring Lines & Anchor
After leaving the theater, we made our way to the ships forecastle, where the forward mooring lines and the ships anchors are stored. The mooring lines are absolutely massive ropes, which I would say are at least 3 inches thick. Kristin and I each grabbed one of the lines to test their weight, and we discovered they were quite heavy. If I recall correctly the lines each have a breaking strength of 80 tons, so if they do break it can have lethal results to anyone nearby. In fact, on the way into this area I noticed a paper sign that warned that a member of the crew had suffered lethal injuries by being in the “snapback zone” when the line broke.
Due to the large size of the ship, it acts as a huge sail, and as the wind builds up, the force against the ship can increase exponentially. As a result, eight lines are used to secure the ship, and as conditions deteriorate, even more lines can be added. The line winches were located on both sides of the ship, so there were several cylindrical metal protrusions in the floor which apparently allowed the lines to be routed to whatever port, was necessary, on either side of the ship.
Moving on to the anchor: the anchor chain had links that were at least two feet long. I am not sure whether or not I understood correctly, but if my recollection is correct the anchor chain was about a thousand feet. The anchor itself also weighed a number of tons, in addition to the weight of the chain itself. Another interesting fact is the anchor chain often ends up being coated in mud, so a high pressure sea water sprayer is built into the anchor channel, which allows the chain to be sprayed off, as it is retracted.
[Kristin Interjection: The anchor itself is approximately as tall as two decks of the ship. We were also surprised that we could look down the anchor drop and see the sea lit up by the daylight. We thought it was dropped out of a hole in the ship that went down to sea level, but we looked at the ship later and saw that the tip of the anchor can be clearly seen from the exterior of the ship when it is not in use.]
Medical Center
We next proceeded down to Deck A, to Burma Road, which is Cunard’s name for crew corridor that runs the length of the ship. There were several signs posted stating that there was to be “No Running On Burma Road”, so apparently that has been a problem in the past. First stop was the medical center– actually on this ship I think it’s actually the “medical centre”.
The most important aspect about the medical center on the ship is that it has to be equipped for all contingencies. Many people believe that if there is a serious problem on a ship, the person will be airlifted off by helicopter, but, in reality, the range of helicopters is very limited– not more than about 150 miles offshore. So, for much of the time of a transatlantic journey the ship is actually outside of the range of any sort of assistance. This can be even more so the case on a world cruise, where even if the ship is within range of land, there may be no medical facilities to speak of in some parts of the world.
To meet the unique needs of a cruise ship, the medical center is thus equipped with a lab capable of running many laboratory tests, a “portable” x-ray machine, and an intensive care unit where people can be intubated and provided with oxygen. There are only six medical staff on the ship, two doctors and four nurses, to meet the needs of 3000 people, so there are no dedicated x-ray technicians, phlebotomists or lab techs. The x-ray is reviewed by a radiologist back at the Southampton Medical Center, but there is a several day delay, so the doctors also need to be able to review x-rays themselves on the spot.
Because the staff must possess versatile knowledge and training in order to fill their role and operate all of the equipment, they are dedicated cruise ship medics, not just part timers. It seems that most doctors serve on board for three months, and then have three months off, although the doctor we were speaking to said she chose to serve for six month periods instead.
Not surprisingly, the worst problem dealt with on board are heart attacks, which are treated with clot busting drugs. On the bright side, the size of the ship means that the response time for such emergencies is quite fast. An entire team, including several non-medical staff, will respond to an emergency, carrying a portable defibrilator to the room, so the doctor has everything they need at their disposal when they get there. They also sometimes deal with appendicitis, which is treated with antibiotics– no surgeries are performed on board. (If I complete the tour again on the QM2, I’ll ask how they deal with compound fractures.)
[Kristin Interjection: After touring the medical facilities, I felt even more comfortable with the situation than I had before. I hadn’t been particularly concerned before, but the staff seemed extremely competent and the facilities couldn’t be better under the circumstances. Cunard also hires their own full-time medical staff. Many cruise lines subcontract out the medical department. I’d be interested to see if I felt as comfortable with the staff and facilities of those ships.]
Fire Control Station
Next stop, just down the hall from the medical centre was the fire control station. This wasn’t as interesting as some of the other departments. There is a dedicated team of officers who serve as the fire control team (and it came out in questions the same team also serves as the hazmat team). There were six fire suits hanging on the wall, set up and ready to go. Each person’s boots were already inside their pants, so they just had to step into them and pull their pants up to suit up.
There is a sprinkler system on the ship, which is the first line of defense against any fire, but if that fails the fire team will have to handle it. There are bulkheads that can be closed in each section of the ship, to isolate the fire and keep it from spreading. Multiple fire lockers are spread throughout the ship, with identical equipment all laid out and ready to go, just in case the fire prevents access to the main room.
[Kristin Interjection: I asked what types of jobs the fire team does when they are not needed to respond to an emergency. Fires are quite rare and so these employees need to be doing something else the majority of the time. It turns out they are various maintenance team members, but primarily electricians. So, if Scott ever wants to be a part-time fireman, all he needs to do is become an electrician on a cruise ship!]
Engine Control Room
Just down the hall from the fire station was the engine control room. We couldn’t see the engine itself due to safety and security concerns, which is unfortunate since that is probably one of the main things most people would like to see. To be honest this part of the tour was a bit underwhelming, although we were provided with some interesting information about the ship.
The engine control room has a large number of monitors displaying various information about the ship, although we got a limited explanation of their importance. While out at sea, control is handled from the bridge, but in the event of a fire or other problem there, the engine control room can serve as a backup control center. Most things are controlled by computer, but there is even a backup analog control panel, in case the computer system has problems.
An interesting aspect about the ship is that it is purely electric. There aren’t exactly “engines”, but rather four large and two small generators which produce electricity. This electricity is used not only to power the electric motors, which turn the propellers, but also to meet the demands of the other areas of the ship– hotel, galleys, bridge, living quarters, etc. There are two main power circuits on board, and a third “comfort circuit” which can be used as a backup if one of the other two panels fail.
Depending on how much demand there is on the system, more generators are powered up or down. At the time of our visit, three large generators and one small generator were running, and the ship was making a pretty swift speed of 21 knots. I think the ship may have been running at higher speed to minimize the time from Rabaul to Puerto Princessa. There was a large amount of vibration in our room at the rear of the ship, which was noticeably reduced during the next leg of the voyage.
Printing & Photo Shop
This part of the tour covered two different, but linked departments. The group was split into two halves, with Kristin and my half seeing the photo shop first. The photo shop on board the Queen Elizabeth has been upgraded to entirely digital. You view the photos on monitors up in the Photo Gallery, and then your order is sent down to the photo shop where it is printed on one of two absolutely massive Epson printers. I would estimate the printers were at least four feet tall, and at least as wide and deep. The print cartridges look similar to those used by our Epson Workforce printer, but they also have a light cyan and light magenta cartridge.
The head of the photo department said that they had been using this system for about three years. He said it was nice because it reduces a lot of waste (previously a lot of photos were printed and then discarded when they were not wanted), and also because they don’t need to use chemicals to develop the film. For a ship the size of the QE, it seems like an obvious choice to use this system over normal film development. I suspect they will recover the cost of the printers in no time, simply by reducing waste.
The print shop uses equipment that is a bit more low tech, at least in appearance. There is a massive printing press that was probably about 8 feet long. A negative is created and placed in the printer, to control its output. The press is capable of printing something like 6000 sheets per hour, but only in two colors at a time. Because the daily program is in four colors, it requires two runs through the printer for one side of the sheet, or four total for the entire program.
The printing press can only be serviced back in Southampton, although various belts may be able to be replaced onboard. There is also a backup printing press in case the first breaks down. However, this machine was slightly smaller, and only capable of printing in one color at a time, so having to fall back on it would significantly reduce output. Though we weren’t shown it, there is apparently another machine that can cut and/or fold the output from the printer.
The man working in the printing press had a background in printing, which was how he got the job– they do hire specialized technicians to fill these positions.
[Kristin Interjection: He was a young man, about our age, from the Philippines.]
Recycling & Waste Disposal
One of the most interesting stops on the tour was the Recycling and Waste Disposal department. To minimize the amount of waste produced by the ship, all the garbage has to be meticulously separated into its components. Paper, cans, glass, plastic, etc are stored for later recycling. Even things like broken ceramic dishware are separated out. Food waste is released into the ocean, after it has been ground up to a size where it will either be eaten, or biodegrade within three days.
Anything that can’t be handled in this fashion is sent to an incinerator, where it is heated to 2000 degrees– hotter than a crematorium! This high temperature is designed to not only incinerate the waste itself, but also burn off any waste gasses released. However, the process is obviously not completely clean, since the incinerator can only be run when the ship is a certain distance offshore, which has to be due to pollution rules.
The potable water on board is desalinated from the ocean, and the wastewater is also treated before being returned to the ocean. The ship has two classes of wastewater: grey water is water from sinks, showers and places like kitchens, while black water is from the toilet. The water is filtered to remove as much particulate matter and pathogens as possible, and then returned to the ocean. There are strict limits to how clean the water must be in order to be expelled into the ocean (based on PPMs), and at the time of the tour the water the ship was releasing was actually cleaner than the water coming out of the ocean.
The last thing briefly covered on this section of the tour was that the ship actually refines its own diesel fuel. Like many large maritime vessels, the ship runs on bunker fuel, which is a very thick and heavy crude. It seems that the waste heat from the engines is used to refine that fuel into a more easily burnable form. Perhaps that is just standard procedure on all large vessels, and just part and parcel of how bunker fuel is burned? It wasn’t exactly clear. In any case, I know the Queen Mary 2 also has natural gas turbines, so overall I suspect it is a theoretically cleaner ship (just another reason why the QM2 is the best cruise ship currently in operation, along with being the only true passenger liner).
We stopped in an area where there was some garbage and recycling collected in squarish bags. These were waiting to be offloaded at the next major port. The ship has to constantly restock its supplies, and it does so at major ports on the world tour (Sydney, Hong Kong, etc.). Some supplies are purchased locally, while others which can’t be purchased in that part of the world are shipped from the Southampton office to be picked up later. Here was also saw a track on the ceiling that served as a crane to move heavy items, and which even could be used to remove one of the engines for replacement, if necessary.
[Kristin Interjection: This area smelled just like the dump we often visit as part of our work. That sickeningly sweet, musty earthy smell. It is a smell Scott hates intensely, but which doesn’t bother me all that much in the short term. I actually enjoy going to the dump for the opportunity to watch the giant backhoes move garbage around! Anyway, the smell made me feel nostalgic for home!]
Stocking & Food Preparation
The next stop on the tour was the stocking and food preparations section.
There were several food preparation areas, where ingredients were prepared for use in the main galleys. There were vegetable, fish and meat preparation areas, where the type of food in question was cut up. Fish and meat remained frozen up until a couple of days before they were needed, at which time they would be given time to thaw, and then be cut as necessary. When it comes to meat, the ship purchases cuts of meat, rather than entire carcasses to make their own cuts from (kind of obvious, if you ask me).
The most interesting food preparation area by far was the baking area. Here dough was prepared in huge tubs, which had to hold something like 80 gallons. To add water to the tub, a hose was literally fed into it, and turned on! There was a giant electric mixer in the tub that would mix all of the dough together.
After the dough was prepared in the mixer, a portion was placed on a machine with a conveyer belt, with a roller in the middle. There the dough was fed back and forth underneath the roller until it was adequately flattened. The next step was among the most interesting: the dough disc was placed on a machine that would cut out numerous circular rolls. The amount of time and effort these machines saved was quite amazing, reducing each step from several minutes to less than a minute.
After the rolls have been cut out, they are placed on a rack inside a oven that maintains a warm and humid environment. This reduces the time required for the dough to rise from several hours to between 30 minutes and an hour. Next the rolls would go into the oven, which featured a rack that hung from the ceiling which could rotate the rolls around the oven, for more even cooking.
The final stop on this section of the tour was the main galley for the Britannia Restaurant. Here we were given dessert snacks and juice refreshments. Then the head chef told us about the operation of the galley. The galley is in operation 24 hours per day, with staff at night preparing the ingredients for the next day. Each level of the Britannia Restaurant has its own galley, and all of the restaurants, for example the buffets, have their own galley as well.
With the Britannia restaurants, the waiters file in from one end to place their orders, and walk through and pick up their dishes from the other side. It seems the amount of each dish that is initially prepared is based on the demographics of those on board. Apparently, just based on the nationality, and more surprisingly, the age of the people on board, you can predict what they are likely to order. Perhaps it makes sense that each generation has slightly different tastes as culture and cuisine change. Personally, I have noticed that sometimes service is much slower than others: I wonder if that could be due to a failure of this prediction algorithm?
The chef also claimed that the menu was changed slightly based on what nationalities were on board, but, for example, that no drastic changes would be made just because a large number of Japanese were on board. Personally, I have not observed any changes in the menu at all, and I think this is probably the biggest flaw with the culinary experience on board. There simply is not enough variation, and especially when you’re on board for months you are very quickly confronted by the same dishes rotating through over and over again.
Especially when your normal choice for cuisine is not standard American/European fare (piece of meat, portion of vegetables and portion of carbohydrates), this quickly becomes monotonous. If I had to say there was one place that could use serious improvement on the world cruise, it is in the variety of foods being served. Not only should dishes be specifically added due to the nationalities on board, but more local cuisine of the places you are visiting should be served.
That being said, what passes for Chinese food on board is abysmal– totally flavorless– so maybe it’s simply beyond the abilities of the European-centric cooking staff to make anything more exotic? However, simply offering some more variation in European or American cooking would be an improvement. Overall my experience with the cuisine on board Cunard doesn’t stack up to my experience on other lines, such as Holland America. Too many days I look at the menu and see nothing I want, when that did not happen at all during the three weeks I spent on the Veendam (granted three weeks is not three months).
[Kristin Interjection: Since we don’t like everything they make, the total number of dishes being prepared which we can eat amounts to less than half the number of dishes we make at home. My mom once told me that she read that most families do not have much more than 7 different dishes in their regular family meal repertoire. They simply repeat their routine weekly, and mix in eating out. Doing a cursory count of our family’s repertoire of dishes, I counted 21 regularly rotated recipes based on the cuisines of 11 different nations, and I certainly forgot several. We then receive exposure to the cuisines of 4 additional nations through our patronage of various local restaurants. I’m afraid that it is this regular routine of exceptional variety and variation that makes us ill disposed to the culinary fare offered on cruise ships. I’m sure that the average person would find what is offered aboard this ship to be quite varied and delicious.]
The Bridge
The last stop on the tour was the bridge. To be honest, we didn’t see a lot of importance on this part of the tour. The bridge has a pretty good view out the front of the ship, and wings to either side allow a view back along the side of the ship. The ship uses electronic charts, which should come as little surprise, and navigation is by GPS. Officers are still trained on old, low tech forms of navigation, just in case they are needed, but in practical terms they are never used.
One interesting thing we learned was that the primary means of manually controlling the ship was a little joystick. It is only about twice the size (in terms of height) as an Xbox controller thumbstick. There is a large wheel, but it didn’t sound like it was used very much. In any case, for the most part the ship just navigates automatically, with only oversight provided by the bridge crew. We also got to take pictures with the ship’s captain, but the results were not that flattering or memorable and they attempted to sell them to us for $25.00 each.
After the bridge, we were provided with a refreshment. You had the option of drinking an alcoholic beverage, or a non-alcoholic fruit cocktail. I had some weird thing with pineapple and maybe mango or something. It was alright, but I didn’t really care for it that much. To be honest, I’d rather if they’d just offered us a soda. We were also provided with a special pin for having completed the behind the scenes tour, in addition to a Cunard logo kitchen apron.
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