To give my wife an experience of a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords was the task to help celebrate our 10th! Frankly the thought of being cooped up with thousands of people did not appeal and we had put off cruising for years. After a lot of research we went for an 'Early Bird' on the QE, choosing an outside cabin, midships on deck 1 to minimise any 'rocking and rolling' as my wife was concerned about the ship's movement. Booking direct with Cunard was easy and my naive questions were fully answered without condescension. We arrived early for embarkation, as our taxi pulled up a very polite porter took our bags and directed us to check in. 'Check In' was fast, efficient and as soon as we were on board, as our cabin wasn't ready we were directed to a lounge to sip tea and take in the view. Our cabin was surprisingly (to us) spacious and very clean, the bed was so comfortable and the window at ideal height to sit by. Lots of room for clothes, cases etc etc. The shower area was compact but had enough space and there were lots of lovely fluffy towels and a robe & slippers for each of us. We have stayed in some of the best hotels in the world and the cabin was on a par with some of those. Our Steward Gio was very helpful & friendly even apologising when he missed a call as he was off duty!!

The restaurant for dinner and breakfast was excellent, the staff; are so well trained and professional putting many so called 'top restaurants', we have dined in to shame. The menu selection was so wide there was always something to tickle the palate - as usual the only thing that was below par was the attempt at Chinese food but we are used to that....being from HK. The buffet meals were all fresh and top class and the layout such that it was very easy to meet other passengers. So the BIGGEST surprise was that rather than being, 'cooped up' there was plenty of space and we met some delightful people. There is so much room on-board you can always find a quiet spot. Being newbies we booked excursions at every stop - yes we could have done our own thing but it was so nice to sit back and let someone else take the strain. Most of the guides were excellent and the one tour that was below par we got a partial refund for - the next day. The only real downside was the $49.99 minimum charge for access to the ship's internet that we passed on; so our roaming charges were high. The entertainment wasn't really our kind of thing but our fellow diners went every night and enjoyed it. The outdoor swimming pools were crowded at peak times so I did my swimming exercises outside of these hours or when it was raining!

All in all it was a great experience!