Queen Elizabeth Review

4.0 / 5.0
635 reviews

Wonderful ship, excellent cruise. When can we go again?

Review for the Mediterranean Cruise on Queen Elizabeth
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drnp101
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Aug 2014
Cabin: Master Suite

To put this review into some kind of perspective, we are aged 38 and 40 and from North Yorkshire. I am a doctor and my partner is a local government officer. We enjoy fine dining (having eaten in several Michelin starred restaurants) and staying in better than average hotels. Having travelled on Cunard's Queen Victoria in 2008 (and loved the experience) we thought we would try Queen Elizabeth this time. Having read so many negative reviews on here, we were worried that perhaps we had wasted (a lot) of money! Before embarkation, we spent 4 nights in Rome exploring the city and soaking up the atmosphere.

Embarkation:

We joined the ship at Civitavecchia having been driven by private car (arranged by our travel agent back in the UK). From central Rome (near the Colosseum where we were staying) it took around an hour to drive to the port (though we noticed that the driver was speeding from time to time!). At the port, our luggage was immediately taken away by porters, we checked in within 5 minutes (because there's a health declaration form to complete first) and were on the ship with our cruise ID cards within 10 minutes. All went very smoothly with no hitches.

Cabin Review

Master Suite

Cabin Q2

We were staying in a Q2 (Queen's Grill) suite on board Queen Elizabeth. There are just two of these on the ship, both midships and on deck 7 (opposite each other). We were in room 7091 (The Britten Suite - named after Sir Edgar Britten who was the first captain of the original Queen Mary).There are double doors leading to the suite which marks it out immediately from other rooms. Through the doors there is a desk area (you choose the layout of your personalised stationary which is delivered to your stateroom), followed by a seating area (two-seater sofa (which makes a sofa bed should you wish) and two comfortable arm chairs and a coffee table). A bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne was chilling in a wine bucket and chocolates were waiting on the coffee table. Canapes are left on your coffee table at around 5pm every day by your butler.This is followed by a kitchen area which is well-appointed (lots of glasses of varying types) and equipped with a mini bar (stocked with Heineken lager, Britvic soda water, Pepsi and Diet Pepsi - all replaced on a daily basis and free of charge in Queen's Grill suites). You also choose 2 complementary bottles of spirits (we chose gin (Gordon's) and our butler provided slimline tonic (Schweppes) and segments of lime. Cunard spring water is also provided free of charge. A pair of binoculars is provided for your use - but a top tip is take your own (Cunard's aren't very good and binoculars are a great boon to use from the balcony when you're sailing into port (or passing enormous private yachts!)).Adjacent to the kitchen area is the dining table with comfortable chairs easily accommodating six guests. A panel table completes the dining area. There is a large flat screen (Samsung) TV on the wall opposite the sitting area. A door leads through to a dressing area (large, illuminated mirror) and a large walk-in closet with ample hanging space, shelving and a digital safe (as well as life jackets). The bedroom area is beyond the dressing room - a kingsize Sealy Posturepedic bed (large bedside cabinets with very generous drawers) opposite which is another Samsung flat screen TV (large cupboard beneath and further wardrobe to the right with top shelf and yet more hanging space). Bedding is changed every third day (though you can ask your butler to do this on a daily basis should you wish) and there is a nocturnal turndown service (a summary of the day's news, tomorrow's ship's programme and Cunard chocolates are left for you along with a room service menu to request breakfast in your suite).A door from the bedroom leads to the ensuite bathroom (large, corner whirlpool spa bath beneath a picture window), double sinks with lots of storage space for toiletries, etc. and an enormous shower (glass door) with hand-held sprays as well as wall-mounted directional nozzles on both side walls for a thorough soaking. Toiletries are provided (bath and shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and hand and body lotion) - all Penhaligon's Quercus range. Six enormous bath towels and four hand towels are provided (along with fluffy bathrobes) - these are changed on a twice daily basis whether you wish them to be or not!To the right of the shower, a door enters to the toilet with its own washbasin and then through a further door to a vanity area (the idea being that the toilet and vanity area would be for your guests) before another door leads back to the entrance to the suite.French doors from the dining area and the bedroom area provide access to a huge balcony equipped with table and chairs, two sun loungers (padded seats) and a smaller table for drinks for each sun-lounger. Beach towels are left on your sun loungers (and stored away by your cabin steward at bedtime).The entire suite is beautifully carpeted, panelled in wood and finished with marble surfaces everywhere. The lighting is subtle with a beautiful art deco lamp above the dining table and wall lighting. An iPad is provided for your use (removed every evening to charge and update the daily UK newspapers (Daily Mail and Independent) which are added to it) and this enables access to the ship’s wifi so you can keep up with e-mails, etc. Two arrangements of fresh flowers were replaced throughout our trip and orchids were placed in the bathroom and dining area too. The suite is served by a butler (whom you can telephone directly from your desk area or bedside ‘phone) – we had breakfast in our stateroom every morning delivered by the butler, but used her for little else. There is also a cabin steward responsible for daily cleaning and tidying and the suite was kept in immaculate condition by these hard-working individuals.All in all, we loved our suite and would find it difficult to find much to criticise (OK – if you really push me, there were a couple of stains on the sun loungers on the balcony, there’s little choice on the TV and the light in the toilet couldn’t be switched on from the bathroom!).

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