Cunard president Peter Shanks joked last week that giant wing mirrors had been fitted to the bridge of Queen Victoria, ready for Inger Olsen, the first woman captain in the company’s history.
He should have brought a snow plough on board, judging by this picture taken at the weekend during the ship’s Christmas Markets cruise to Amsterdam and Zeebrugge.
Or perhaps he is planning to turn the Pavilion Pool into an ice skating rink.
Fred Olsen’s Black Watch led Victoria back into Southampton this morning with inveterate cruise fan Patricia Dempsey on board. She refused to allow the wintry weather to spoil her weekend, and included this shot (below) over the bow in her album.
Both ships will be setting off this afternoon for somewhere warmer; they will be chasing each other through the Bay of Biscay, down to Spain and the Canary Islands. Bon Voyage, and have a Happy Christmas!
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
The pictures are really pretty, I’m very jealous of those passengers settingsail for somewhere hot away from this freezing weather!