QV

Queen Victoria transatlantic: All in all the crossing was great

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Marcia Levin recently completed a transatlantic cruise on Cunard’s Queen Victoria. The crossing has been completed. I spent a few days in the UK, and returned home Saturday. Laundry is done, my dry cleaning has been dropped off, and I will eventually go about the business of getting back to business. It was a good trip – one I thought long and hard about . I know I made the right choice. Queen Victoria is the quintessential …

Read moreQueen Victoria transatlantic: All in all the crossing was great

The Titanic sailed from Cobh, Ireland, 99 years ago and the event is still memorialized

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Marcia Levin is sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. Ninety-nine years ago on April 14, RMS Titanic set sail from the port of Cobh, Ireland. Of the 123 passengers who boarded in Cobh, 79 perished when the good ship went down the next morning, April 15. Queen Victoria sailed a similar route a few days ago. As we sailed with France on one side of the vessel and the UK on the other, our …

Read moreThe Titanic sailed from Cobh, Ireland, 99 years ago and the event is still memorialized

Lisbon, Portugal: The third time is a charm

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Marcia Levin has been sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. I have been to Lisbon three times on port visits. The first time I wanted to go from the port to the center of town and couldn’t get a cab to take me where I wanted to go. Second time, my husband and I purchased a tour, my husband didn’t feel well that day so I did the tour alone. I retained very little, …

Read moreLisbon, Portugal: The third time is a charm

The variety of food on Queen Victoria is daunting and the Todd English specialty restaurant the best

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Marcia Levin has been sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. There comes a time in every girl’s life when she must address a least-favorable subject. I am talking about food. I no longer cook very much and I don’t like plates with massive quantities of food or extensive buffet spreads. I enjoy a good meal, but eat far less than I did in earlier years and, on a ship, spend a lot of time …

Read moreThe variety of food on Queen Victoria is daunting and the Todd English specialty restaurant the best

Queen Victoria reaches the Azores, with solid Capt. Rynd at the helm

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Marcia Levin is sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. The ship docked in Punta Delgada in the Azores early this morning. I was here a few years back and while the island and its unusual landscape, hot springs, lakes and mountains are indeed beautiful and interesting, I opted to stay aboard Queen Victoria. It’s been my home now for a week and two days, and I have grown comfortable. I’ll go ashore in the …

Read moreQueen Victoria reaches the Azores, with solid Capt. Rynd at the helm

Lots of naps during four stormy days at sea on the Queen Victoria

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Marcia Levin is sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. At 12:15 this morning the Officer of the Watch issued an alarm. A fire was expected in the funnel, or the stack, the iconic Cunard red and black stack. All officers and crew were called to duty and the Captain, on the ship’s system, advised passengers of what had occurred and that he would get back to us. Soon an all clear was issued and …

Read moreLots of naps during four stormy days at sea on the Queen Victoria

A profile of the entertainment director aboard the Queen Victoria

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Marcia Levin is sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. Entertainment director Keith Maynard runs the show. ALL of the shows in the beautiful Royal Court Theater aboard Cunard’s Queen Victoria. He’s in charge of more than 100 men and women who comprise the entertainment staff and schedules the production numbers, the singers, dancers, magic acts, pianists, comics, 24-piece orchestra, plus trivia games,  guest speakers and more. Maynard has only been on Queen Victoria for …

Read moreA profile of the entertainment director aboard the Queen Victoria

The island of Bermuda is still clean and elegant and a cruise stop with much history

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Marcia Levin is sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. I flew out of Bermuda on Sept. 10, 2001. My husband and I had attended a Board meeting and convention of the Society of American Travel Writers and were booked to fly home on Sept. 9. A hurricane warning closed the airport, but we were lucky enough to be rescheduled on Monday, Sept.10 ,when the hurricane bypassed the island. Everyone remembers where they were on …

Read moreThe island of Bermuda is still clean and elegant and a cruise stop with much history

Sea days mean action in the North Atlantic

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Marcia Levin in sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria on a transatlantic cruise. It is rainy. dark and gloomy and Queen Victoria is sailing in the Bermuda Triangle. It is also April Fool’s Day. There are no doubt a half a dozen jokes there, but instead of laughing I watch my fellow passengers scurrying to breakfast, to hear a lecture or take a class. At 10 a.m. passengers head to the theater to listen to Concorde Flight Engineer …

Read moreSea days mean action in the North Atlantic

Today we are in Nassau, then a day at sea before the Queen Victoria reaches Bermuda

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Marcia Levin is currently sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria. This cruise or transatlantic sailing as been variously called an “‘Atlantic Homecoming” and an “Atlantic Odyssey.” Yesterday we called at Port Canaveral and early this morning we pulled into the port of Nassau, Bahamas. Charleston, S.C.,  was the original second port of call, but there was no room at the port, so Nassau was substituted. The term “homecoming” is apropos because so many of the officers and crew …

Read moreToday we are in Nassau, then a day at sea before the Queen Victoria reaches Bermuda