The 90,400-ton vessel is the second largest ever built for the
brand (after the six-year-old Queen Mary 2) and is the successor to the recently
retired Queen Elizabeth 2 It was christened on Monday October 11th in an
elaborate royal ceremony presided over by the UK's Queen Elizabeth II.
 So what's the new Queen like? In a couple words, elegant and beautiful, as one
would expect.
In design and decor, the 2,092-passenger vessel evokes the heritage and grandeur
of the original Queen Elizabeth, which sailed the Atlantic from the 1940s to the
1960s, with rich wood paneling, gleaming chandeliers and marble accents
throughout. But it also gives a nod to the recently retired Queen Elizabeth 2 in
several spaces.
For those who have sailed on Cunard's three-year-old Queen Victoria, a sister
ship, there also is much that will look familiar. The layout of the two vessels,
from public areas to cabins, are nearly identical in many areas.
Still, Cunard has made a number of small but significant changes to the Queen
Elizabeth as compared to sister Queen Victoria that collectively give it a
unique flavor and feel all its own.
Some first impressions:
-- A strong Art Deco flair runs through the ship (quite different than the
Victorian decor of the Queen Victoria), and it's lovely. Pleasantness of decor,
of course, is a subjective thing, but I find the look more elegant and refined
than on the Queen Victoria.
The Grand Lobby on Cunard Line's 2,092-passenger Queen Elizabeth.
features Art Deco touches with an elaborate, wood-inlaid image of the Queen
Elizabeth as a focal point.
-- The top front of the vessel offers a delightful Games Deck that is unlike
anything found on the two other Cunard ships at sea. It includes a faux-grass
table tennis court, an English bowls court (watching Americans trying to figure
this one out could become a major shipboard pastime) and a croquet court.
-- Also new on Queen Elizabeth is a soaring, conservatory-like space called the
Garden Lounge that oozes English charm. Covered by a vaulted glass ceiling
inspired by the glass houses of Kew Gardens, it's named after a room on the
first Queen Elizabeth.
-- Clearly understanding its nostalgic-for-a-time-gone-by market, Cunard has
sprinkled wonderful little pockets of memorabilia from its past ocean liners
throughout the ship.
The paddle tennis court on the Games Court of Cunard Line's 2,092-passenger
Queen Elizabeth. Some of the most notable items are in the lively Midships Bar,
a centrally-located watering hole that hearkens back to a similar space on the
original Queen Elizabeth. It features cases of memorabilia from the original
ship, including a telephone from a first class cabin and an original invoice
from the ship's builder, John Brown & Co., dated Feb. 5, 1938.
-- In a direct nod to its predecessor, the QE2, the new Queen Elizabeth includes
a stylish lounge called The Yacht Club that we suspect will become one of the
ship's busiest nightspots. Overlooking the main pool deck, it offers impressive,
270-degree views and will be home to jazz in the evenings.
More historic tie-ins are found in The Cunarders' Gallery, a room with captioned
black and white photography of the many celebrities who have sailed with Cunard
over the past two centuries. Another area of the ship, Cunard Place, offers
memorabilia from previous Cunard liners.
Under construction for more than a year at the Fincantieri shipyard near
Trieste, Italy, the new Queen Elizabeth arrives almost exactly two years after
Cunard retired the QE2, its longtime flagship and an icon of ocean travel in the
second half of the 20th century.
Like sister Queen Victoria, the Queen Elizabeth has two large interior public
decks dominated by three grand, multi-deck-high elements: The elegant Britannia
Restaurant, which is the main dining room for most passengers; a soaring
ballroom called the Queens Room; and the regal-looking Royal Court Theatre.
The Pavilion Pool on Cunard Line's 2,092-passenger Queen Elizabeth. Still, even
in these rooms, Cunard has done some tinkering as compared to Queen Victoria.
The Britannia Restaurant, for instance, has a grand staircase descending
directly into the middle of the room -- a departure from the Queen Victoria's
main dining room where the staircase is on the side. The entryway to the Queens
Room dance floor also has been moved from the side to the center to improve
passenger flow.
As for the decor, the dominant colors throughout the Queen Elizabeth are a more
Art Deco-appropriate blue and yellow as compared to the yellow and red of the
Victorian-influenced Queen Victoria.
Compared to the Art Deco-inspired Queen Mary 2, though, the period motifs on
Queen Elizabeth are more subtle. A softer Art Deco, Shanks has called it.
As on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, each category of cabin on Queen Elizabeth
is paired with its own restaurant. Passengers in the most expensive cabins, the
Grill suites, will dine in the intimate Queens Grill and Princess Grill.
Passengers in standard cabins will dine in the larger Britannia Restaurant. Like
Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth also offers a fourth main restaurant, the
Britannia Club, where guests traveling in the highest category of standard
cabins will dine in an intimate setting.
The Queen Elizabeth also has a for-a-charge specialty restaurant, the Verandah,
serving French cuisine. A revival of a famed eatery found on the original Queen
Elizabeth and Queen Mary, The Verandah is taking the place of the celebrity
chef-run Todd English restaurants found on the line's two other ships.
Credited to: USA TODAY's Gene
Sloan |
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