Some friends took a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth (QE) at Christmas last year and did nothing but complain. Also, I traveled on the QE2, several times before her retirement and quite liked her. So,I didn't expect much from the newest Queen. But, I got a good deal on the web a few weeks before the cruise and decided to book the Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale leg of the QE's world cruise.

For the on board experience, the QE is pretty closed to the QE2. The public rooms are quite nice and well maintained. There is plenty of deck space and there was never a problem finding a deck chair. It was a pretty old crowd on board and I didn't think the walker and wheel chair crowd took to the tropical heat of the Panama Canal very well. There was even plenty of road on deck while going through the Canal.

I ate most meals in the Britannia Restaurant. Service at dinner, where we had the same waiter, was excellent. Breakfast was a bit more varied. It seemed as if a quite a few of the staff were being trained. Food was quite good. Fish, Spa Menu, and Vegetarian dishes being the best. Some deserts were great, like the souffle and some were weak, like the tart with canned pudding. The lobster was a disappointment, but fortunately I had some great lobster in Nicaragua and Grand Cayman. If you like spicy food, look elsewhere. Read more