Today was "spot the Vista" as there were four in port. QE & QV plus NOORDAM and NIEUW AMSTERDAM.

Unfortunately QE backed in just like QM2 yesterday, and that is where the similarities end. She is not attractive from the rear and certainly not photogenic like QM2. The bow-on view of her sister QV was much better, and of course QV has the more attractive tiered stern.

One thing I noticed both yesterday and today is that Cunard did not "dress" their ships with flags like most passenger ships docked in a major port. All the ships today with the exception of QV, QE, and NOORDAM were "dressed". Yesterday all the ships I saw were dressed except for QM2 and CARNIVAL FREEDOM, and I think FREEDOM had just taken hers down for sailing.

Once again here is the link with all the photos, and some for preview as well.

Ernie

Click here for photo link

Ernie

Maybe QM2 yesterday did not have her flags up due to this being a port of call but was it a port of call for QE and QV as well?

Al Mirqab was at the port of Miami for new years then was moved up to Port Everglades on the 2nd or 3rd. There's also Tatoosh which was behind Constellation yesterday and Princess Mariana at the Epic hotel marina today.

[ 01-16-2011: Message edited by: Carlos Fernandez ]

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Originally posted by Carlos Fernandez:
Very nice pictures Ernie, the shot with QV's bow where you can see her bulbous bow is amazing, it's like they've been taken from another ship in port. Next time I go I'll get myself to that parking garage.

Maybe QM2 yesterday did not have her flags up due to this being a port of call but was it a port of call for QE and QV as well?

Al Mirqab was at the port of Miami for new years then was moved up to Port Everglades on the 2nd or 3rd. There's also Tatoosh which was behind Constellation yesterday and Princess Mariana at the Epic hotel marina today.

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Thanks for the info about the yachts Carlos. I was wondering what yacht that was by CONSTELLATION yesterday and NIEUW AMSTERDAM today. You can see her in these photos.

Perhaps one day we can go ship spotting together? It would be great to meet you and have someone along that enjoys the ships as much as I do. My partner will have nothing to do with it.

Ernie

I've sailed on both these ships and I didn't really notice the difference until now.

Another great shipspotting day.

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Originally posted by miamicruiser:
I just got bach home from watching the ships go out and Ernie is right, the QV horn sounded better by a landslide. I lost track homw many times the Vic blasted but by far the most of any ship that I have heard in years. Any yes...it's got that deep sound that you feel in your gut.

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It would have been great to see it in person, but I didn't feel like hanging out at the port anymore so I went home. I watched the ship parade on the web cam.

Did you stay for ALLURE OF THE SEAS departure? I was very disappointed I didn't hear the horn blow. Did I miss it or did the ship just slip out quietly? This is very odd for Captain Zini who is quite the showman. I wonder if something was wrong with the horn? I haven't heard the ALLURE horn yet, but when I sailed on OASIS she had quite a good horn. Certainly better than most but probably not up to QM2 and QV standards.

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Originally posted by Carlos Fernandez:
Maybe QM2 yesterday did not have her flags up due to this being a port of call but was it a port of call for QE and QV as well?
[ 01-16-2011: Message edited by: Carlos Fernandez ]

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What flags are you refering to Carlos? For a moment I thought you meant dress flags. However, I believe you are aware she doesn't carry dress flags.

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Originally posted by cruiseshipluver:

What flags are you refering to Carlos? For a moment I thought you meant dress flags. However, I believe you are aware she doesn't carry dress flags.

cruiseshipluver

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Yes, we are talking about the dress flags. Cunard doesn't carry these? I didn't realize that. It would certainly explain why QM2, QV, and QE were not "dressed" like just about every other ship in port.

Any reason why Cunard doesn't do this?

I saw Al-Mirqab last May at Palma de Mallorca while on Ventura. Here's an image:

[ 01-17-2011: Message edited by: Tom Burke ]

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
Nice pictures. I know lots of people don't like Vistas, but I rather do, so this was a good set of pictures for me.

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I'm glad you enjoyed the pics.

I don't even know if it's a matter of not liking them. They are actually quite pleasant to sail on. It's just that they are rather uninteresting because there are so many of them. It's kind of like a Toyota Camry here in the States. A perfectly fine car, but I don't give the car a second glance because it's so ordinary and common. Vista's are kind of like the Toyota Camry of the cruising world.

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I don't even know if it's a matter of not liking them. They are actually quite pleasant to sail on. It's just that they are rather uninteresting because there are so many of them. It's kind of like a Toyota Camry here in the States. A perfectly fine car, but I don't give the car a second glance because it's so ordinary and common. Vista's are kind of like the Toyota Camry of the cruising world.

Ernie

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Well, at least they're not entirely identical. It's quite interesting - OK, there's a certain amount of interest - n spotting the difference between the different Vistas and enhanced Vistas. The various different angles of the rear bank of cabins - I think there are three different versions, aren't there? Indeed, this thread does some of that, comparing QE with QV. Other differences as well are interesting to see if you can spot them.

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Originally posted by eroller:
Well, at least in one respect not all Vista's are created equal. The horns! QV's was deep and penetrating (I know that sounds erotic. LOL). NIEUW AMSTERDAM's was quite wimpy. QV really gave a great show with her horn upon departure. Best I've heard yet.

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Originally posted by eroller:

It would have been great to see it in person, but I didn't feel like hanging out at the port anymore so I went home. I watched the ship parade on the web cam.

Did you stay for ALLURE OF THE SEAS departure? I was very disappointed I didn't hear the horn blow. Did I miss it or did the ship just slip out quietly? This is very odd for Captain Zini who is quite the showman. I wonder if something was wrong with the horn? I haven't heard the ALLURE horn yet, but when I sailed on OASIS she had quite a good horn. Certainly better than most but probably not up to QM2 and QV standards.

Ernie

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Hey Ernie. First of all great photos.

Captain Zini left the ship that morning and Captain Johnny took over. Hopefully he will get that corrected.

Click on the link below to hear the horn. The first video is the horn blowing on our sail away from Labadee.
http://cruisingator.smugmug.com/gallery/15560705_77DWv#1166839858_Pb3Mn

I also loaded my photos from my B2B on the Allure. Overall it was an outstanding two weeks. Small changes were noticed over the Allure and it was all for the good.

http://cruisingator.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?swfPop=true&noClickURL=true&url=http://cruisingator.smugmug.com/Travel/Allureoftheseas/15556899_nC2y6#1165415502_BJsjb

Can't wait to look at your pics. Just booked Allure on Saturday and sailing on 2/20. Can't wait. No loft suite this time. Central Park balcony. All the ocean facing balconies were sold out. Amazing!

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Originally posted by eroller:
All the ocean facing balconies were sold out. Amazing!

Ernie

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