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If you are you a fan
of the Queen Victoria? Chances are you'll like the Queen Elizabeth,
too.
The third new Cunard ship in six years will be strikingly similar to
the earlier vessel, according to plans unveiled Tuesday at the
Cruise Shipping Miami convention -- the industry's largest
get-together.
Still, says senior Cunard executive Peter Shanks, the 90,400-ton,
2,092-passenger Queen Elizabeth, debuting in 2010, won't be a carbon
copy of the 15-month-old Victoria.
"It's important to stress that while Queen Elizabeth is a sister
ship to Queen Victoria, she will absolutely have her own
personality," Shanks said during a press conference to discuss the
much-anticipated successor to the recently retired Queen Elizabeth
2.
Shanks says the new Queen Elizabeth will evoke the memories of both
the original Queen Elizabeth and the recently departed QE2 with such
detailing as marble floors and wood flourishes in the lobby.
"People will, of course, be wowed but instantly feel at home," he
says.
Among the public rooms on the ship announced Tuesday is a Midships
Bar -- named after a well-known watering hole on the original Queen
Elizabeth. It'll be home to live piano music. Fans of the popular
Yacht Club on the QE2 will find that space has been reprised, too.
Like other Cunard ships, the Queen Elizabeth will feature a
traditional ballroom called the Queens Room for evening dancing and
tea parties. Shanks says the walls of the room will depict scenes
from royal palaces in England, and the line also hopes to have
photos and drawings of the royal family.
One notable addition to the Queen Elizabeth will be six suites
themed around the six Cunard commodores who have been knighted over
the past two centuries. Each of the suites will have a model of a
Cunard ship on which the room's namesake sailed.
Like past Cunard ships, the Queen Elizabeth will offer premium
Princess Grill and Queens Grill accommodations that come with
private dining rooms. But unlike past Cunard ships, the Queen
Elizabeth also will have a special dining area called the Britannia
Club for passengers in premium balcony cabins.
"I believe this will be the fastest selling category on the ship,"
notes Shanks.
The line also is adding a Supper Club dining experience in the
Garden Lounge that will include a chance for dancing under the stars
-- a first for Cunard.
Shanks also announced plans for an outdoor Games Club area on the
ship where passengers can play lawn games like paddle tennis and
lawn bowling. But unlike on Celebrity's new Solstice class ships,
the lawn area won't be made of real grass, he says.
"Our liners go around the world, (so) we feel this is the best way
to do it," he says.
Nearly three-quarters of the Queen Elizabeth's 1,046 cabins will
have balconies.
The ship is scheduled to debut on Oct. 12, 2010 with a maiden voyage
from England to the Canary Island that Shanks says will start at
$2,995 per person. Shanks says Cunard will begin taking bookings for
the vessel exactly at 8:00 am ET on April 2. The maiden voyage is
expected to sell out almost immediately. |