It’s just like a scene from Poirot
That is what my partner said when we were going through my photos from Queen Elizabeth at the weekend. He was referring to the photo of the Grill’s sun deck below and he was exactly right. Cunard had promised a ship that was more art deco in design and that is what they’ve delivered. It is subtle and elegant, admittedly the art deco is more browns and creams in design than the more traditional pinks and turquoises, however had they taken this route they would have risked being too tacky. They do have the Cunard branding to maintain, which their customers love and which brings them repeat business year after year.
The games deck was amazing and followed this 1920’s theme perfectly. Customers have the choice of 2 golf driving ranges, a croquet lawn, short mat bowls and a paddle tennis court. There was also a giant chess board and 2 table tennis tables. I really wanted to get dressed up and try my hand at croquet – I’m sure they would benefit from an old time photographic studio. Customers would have a great time dressing up and having their photo’s taken playing traditional games before sampling a fresh cream tea.
The cabins were well appointed, although nothing particularly different to any other cruise line. As always I found the shower too small. The main point of note was that they had plug sockets for the British 3 pin plug so no need to pack your adaptor. And yes, you can still smoke on your balconies if you wish to. I was disappointed in the Princess Grill’s though, the P1 was hardly any difference in size to my A3 balcony. I also didn’t feel it looked like a suite at all, with the living area and bedroom not being particularly separate. (see photo below.) You do get the open dining and separate restaurant with the Grills, but I really enjoyed my dinner in the Brittania restaurant anyway, so probably not worth the money.
After dinner, I enjoyed a good dance in the Queens room. This is something that I haven’t seen on any other ship and really makes Cunard cruises stand apart. It was a fantastic room for ballroom dancing and had plenty of space. If you enjoy dancing then my first recommendation from now on will always be Cunard.
There is so much to write about the different aspects of the ship, but I don’t want to go on too long. In terms of service and standards, she was great, it gets hard when you’ve been on so many ships and I’ve never been a picky person, but she delivered what I was expecting of a Cunard ship. Some of my colleagues moaned that the weren’t enough pictures on the walls or that there was a mix of silver and gold edging, but to be honest I really can’t imagine this spoiling my holiday.
Many of my customers were lucky enough to be on board this weekend and all seemed very impressed with Queen Eizabeth – if you’ve been on board I’d love to hear your comments.
3 Comments on “It’s just like a scene from Poirot”
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I have worked in the travel industry for over 25 years now since beginning as a holiday rep on a campsite in France and I have a real passion for travel. I've worked in all aspects of the industry including sales, marketing and management and I've specialised in most products…
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Nice pictures,sounds like you did enjoy yourself and had an escort to dance with.
Funny how people pick up on the smallest thing to be picky about.
My gosh, this is a whole new ship just built , not a two week upgrade.
The cabin I assume is a standard balcony one.
Most cabins are now built like cookie cutters and thus they look mainly the same except for the addons. Try these links.
Company in Finland does most of the cabins for all cruise ships.
http://www.stxeurope.com/?page=218
A video and explanation in how they are made.
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/how-its-built-cruise-ship-cabins?626
Cheers /Rob
Hi Rob
Thanks for replying and you were missed on the night. The photo is actually a Princess Grill, and yes it does look like a balcony cabin. The only difference really was that bar bit in the middle, flowers and champagne. It was larger but only marginally. If I’d paid to upgrade to a Princess Grill I’d be really disappointed.
The Queens Grill’s on the other hand were amazing, I’ll have to try and post some photo’s over the next few days.
Hi Jill,
Thanks for your thoughts and observation in the added bar type furniture as I was not sure.
I like your comment about minimal cabin size in Princess Grill vs. Queen’s Grill, perhaps like comparing Airlines Economy to Britannia, Premier Economy to Princess Grill and Business / Executive Class to Queens Grill while First Class equals Owners Suite(my humour for the day).
Did you hear the Royal Marine Band play for the opening ceremony.
The Queen and Prince Philip visited Victoria Canada in the late 80’s on The Royal Yacht Britannia and we took our family down to the Quay where she was docked to see them leave in the late summer evening. Well, aside from seeing them wave we had the privilege of watching the band on the quay(only about 20 feet away) and on the deck as it moved out.
Joke here was had they recruited for the Forces that evening they would have signed up hundreds!
Sorry, went off topic. / Rob