Thoughts on the new QE

[pepperrn]

Do you consider this to be a good thing Pepper and do you feel this way on other parts of the vessel? ( A serious question by the way.)

An Interested Gari

 

Hi Gari

 

Great questions!

 

To answer the second one first, I didn't feel this about any other part of QV, everywhere else felt like a ship, a bit dark and too over-decorated in places but a well appointed vessel none the less. The fact that I could see the water from almost every other public room prob. helped.

 

I know that in the past many designers tried their very hardest to convince passengers they weren't on a ship. The "English country house gone to sea" look of Aquitania for example, all chintz and Adam plaster work. Or the Tuetonic timbered schloss fireplace of the smoking room of the Imperator, to name but two.

 

Arthur Davis, the architect, summed it up in 1922 when he was asked “why don’t you make a ship look like a ship?” he answered; “the people who use these ships are not pirates, they do not dance hornpipes; they are mostly seasick American ladies, and the one thing they want to forget when they are on the vessel is that they are on a ship at all. If we could get ships to look inside like ships, and get people to enjoy the sea, it would be a very good thing; but all we can do, as things are, is to give them gigantic floating hotels”…

 

Now I like ships to look like ships, but I also admire the audacity of the designers of QV & QE who can create a space that looks exactly like a well appointed West End or Broadway theatre. It has, of course, no view of the sea, and that helps. But I think passengers entering for the first time, with no prior knowledge, will be amazed.

 

Personally I like the “Ocean Liner” or “Odeon Style” for ship interiors, as seen in many places on QM2, not the faux “Victoriana“, “Jacobethia” or the “Georgiporgia” of some ships. That is one reason, other than the theatre, why I wasn’t “blown away” by QV. All the heavy, dark and sombre public rooms, one after another, became tiring. QM2 has such a mixture of styles and is so much lighter overall that each space feels separate from the next.

 

I want to feel connection with the sea, not exclude it. Being able to see the water and feel the motion of the ship is important to me. On most modern cruise ships access to open decks and views of the sea are restricted, everything faces inwards to the revenue centres. On QM2 the opposite is true, views of the water and access to it, is everywhere.

 

On QE2 the promenades were on the perimeter of Quarter and Upper Decks with the public rooms arranged along the centre-line. When you entered one you turned your back on the sea. On QM2, with her centre-line promenades, when you enter a bar or lounge, you turn towards the ocean, a visual reminder that this is a ship.

 

So, in strict answer to your first question, I don’t think it’s a good thing to have to be reminded when I‘m at sea, but when in theatres like the ones on QV/QE, I’m willing to suspend belief for a while…

 

Very best wishes and thanks, great to hear from you.

[RobertGraves]

One interesting aspect of the history of ocean liners and their captivation of the minds of many, was that ships looked like ships externally and looked like fine hotel fantasies internally.

 

Now we can have only half. The writing is on the wall, either we like it or not. Do you remember what Pythia at Delphi told Julian the 'Apostate'? The same goes to cruiseships-feeling-like-ships today.

 

What will become of us shiplovers? I guess we have to travel more frequently, to experience ships from inside while forgetting how they are from outside. :D

 

Speaking personally, if I may, I always tended to agree with Arthur Davis. I marvelled at the paradox of ships looking like palaces internally. I could never feel at home with the SS United States advertising assertion that it was time for a ship to look like ship. One of the beauties of cruising is sitting among elegance and grace while the almighty ocean surrounds you. Both QM2 and QV are wonderful in this.

 

Plus I don't feel that those Vistas are that bad externally (oh, blasphemy :D). Especially when looking QV's aft 'tiered' decks. And can be eye-captivating as they are awe inspiring, as the first Queen Mary was for example. Not excellent by any means, but not that bad...

[RobertGraves]

Whilst I much prefer QM2 to QV (to me they don't come close, QM2 is unique) the theatre is one place where QV stands out as being far better. I had to remind myself time and again that this was on a ship...

 

Thanks again, very best wishes

 

Many thanks for your kind words, Pepper. I too always enjoy your writings.

 

Like you I prefer QM2 overall. She is unique and as the only active successor of the old ocean liners holds a special place in the heart of a shiplover like me. Being able to cross the Atlantic on one of the world's largest ships on a regular basis without flying in the 21st century, was just unhoped for (not to mention that for more than two years she was the largest passenger ship in the world). But this Queen Victoria has some strong points that cannot leave me indifferent. Same goes to the new QE, I am sure.

 

First she is much cosy, easy to navigate, more 'human' in proportions, compared to her vast sister. The latter is especialy evident in places like the Queens Room. That on QM2 impresses you with its vastness. Wow. The largest ballroom at sea indeed. But that on QV is arguably more 'classy', while her two-deck height makes it also spacious beyond what is considered 'normal' in the maistream cruise industry. Having afternoon tea within its elegant environment is such a delight, let alone evening dancing there.

 

What a pleasant surprise was to see it compared to what would have been the Queens Room on board the first QV, now P&O Arcadia. Such brilliant (this is the word which comes spontaneously to my mind) innovations differentiate clearly QV and QE from all Vistas or Signatures, and, after the introduction of QM2, they were crucial to convince me that Carnival is really interested in Cunard.

 

Add the rest of those innovations, Library, Winter Garden, Shopping Arcade, Grills complex, Hemispheres, and like you say THE Theatre, they all instantly incline me favourably towards the two newest Cunard ships.

 

As for being cosy, easy to navigate or smartly designed, on our last cruise we had an A2 cabin at the front of the ship, so we used to go down to Deck 2 to walk all the way back to Britannia Restaurant. It was such a joy, walking through the ship's centre of life and feeling of participating in it. First the shoping arcade, the Queens Room, the Atrium, the Chart Room... Everything felt in touch.

 

So I feel that there are many reasons to be attracted by QV. But perhaps most important to me is QV's decor. So close to how many people would imagine a legendary ocean liner's surroundings! Actually this is somehow how as a child I used to think that QE2's interiors would look like, before seeing real photos. From this point of view, I could agree with Cunard's PR that QV is really an ocean liner. :D

 

So, if QM2 is undoubtedly the queen, these two new ships seem to begin keeping a special place in my heart.

[Cruachan]

Plus I don't feel that those Vistas are that bad externally (oh, blasphemy :D).

 

Blaspheme all you like - because I will be blaspheming right along with you :D

 

I also find the Vistas quite attractive, in comparison with most modern cruise ships. The public wants balconies so balconies they must have - and it's rather hard to see how balconies, in the numbers required, could be incorporated into the design of a ship without drawing inevitable comparisons with an appartment block.

 

But, as far as the Vistas are concerned, I think it has been done quite sensitively without totally destroying the overall aesthetic appeal of the ship.

 

J

[gardenbunny]

What a wonderful conversation this was to read.

First, I love Cunard - for all the reasons many of you said so eloquently. Mr. Graves, excellent review and comparison -

My first cruise experience was in 1999 on HAL Veendam to Alaska. We were only on the ship 3 days (because we did every thing that HAL had to offer all across Alaska and the Yukon for 2 weeks) and it was very very nice.

Since that time, I have been Cunard all the way. On my bucket list had always been to do a crossing on the QE2 and I was able to do so on her last year in 2003. I was hooked - Then we went on the new QM2 in her second year to the Caribbean - By then, it was serious love. Several other trips in between on both QE2 and QM2, and now we are taking one of the maiden voyages of the new Queen Elizabeth Dec 1 - 13, 2010.

I cannot tell you how much fun it has been to watch all the photos and videos of her amazing "birth", so to speak - and that I will be one of the lucky first few thousand on board.

There are many great things in history that are sadly no longer among us - but the memory lives on. How can you not walk down the photo gallery of all the famous (and sometimes infamous) people who have sailed with Cunard on her grand ships and not feel "special" that you have been on the same ocean liner as they once did - The romance of the ocean liner over the decades will always stand the test of time.

Air travel had once been "special" - but unfortunately now it has become "bus travel with wings" - not to mention all the extra fees.

 

So, who cares if Cunard is just a brand now - it is a classic - where you can escape to that place in your dreams of what it must have been like.

[gardenbunny]

PS - on dear I forgot to mention the most important thing to me - the sheer beauty of the ship - Here here to the person who wrote that the new ships today look like floating apartment buildings.

How can you feel elegant and regal when you are on a giant floating RV that offers amusement parks, water parks, rock climbing, ice skating, surfing, thousands of loud party going passengers - you could just stay home and do those things instead of cruising with them!

If I am on an ocean liner, I want it to look like that - Cunard has to have the best looking fleet on the water!

[RobertGraves]

Thank you, J and gardenbunny for your kind words!

 

The public wants balconies so balconies they must have - and it's rather hard to see how balconies, in the numbers required, could be incorporated into the design of a ship without drawing inevitable comparisons with an appartment block.

 

But, as far as the Vistas are concerned, I think it has been done quite sensitively without totally destroying the overall aesthetic appeal of the ship.

 

J

 

I could not say it better. I rest my case. :D

[garigoun]

My thanks to Pepper and R.G. for their comprehensive and knowledgeable replies. Pepper's remark about not feeling like he was on a ship prompted a memory of my disappointment on my first time on a cruise ship/liner.

That was the QE2 about '96 I think. I had left the sea about 7 years before and was looking forward to being afloat again. She looked good at the dockside but when I boarded into that circular lobby with the young woman playing the harp and was then conducted to the cabin I did not feel like I was aboard a ship. For one thing there was no 'ship smell'. Perhaps Pepper might know what I mean, every ship I had sailed on had what I always thought of as a ship smell. Not unpleasant or pleasant but just there. From one of Bank Line's old Doxford clunkers to the spiffy Shell boats there was always a ship smell. (Though maybe the Grey Funnel Line have theall smell bulled out of them). And there was so little movement. Toooo smoooth. Now I'm not advocating that it should be like going round the horn every trip, seasickness is, I believe, a very horrible thing. But on the whole the voyages are so anodyne. The wx has to be really extreme to make these big boats move about. Cap'n Pugwash is a fan of a bit of boaty-ness to if I'm not mistaken.

So leaving all considerations of decor and marine architecture aside and adding the proviso that I enjoy my cruises and crossings, to me they are simply a means, a very civilised means, of getting to where I want to be. Of course I could fly but flying being what it is that is less than appealing. (If Dante was writing today I'm sure he would add a tenth circle of hell composed of an endless ring of departure lounges leading directily into arrival halls leading directly into departure lounges). But on none of the ships I have holidayed on have I felt that I was at sea to any great extent. On the RCCI boat earlier in the year I felt like I was in a small Vegas hotel. But again I'm not complaining about the ship per se it's just that I can't quite find the enthusiasm delight and partisanship that many posters have for these ships. To me, the heritage aspect of Cunard as it is presented is all a little ersatz and owes more to the auditor than to the historian. I don't wish to come accross as some doddering old Luddite hankering after the days of dreadnought prows, stayed funnels and deck ventilators, far from it. I am not sentimental about the sea or ships in general, I like them but that's as far as it goes and I do agree with Jimmy, people want balconies and the customer is the one who pays. Form follows function and so we have the so called floating appartment blocks. But with the passage of the requisite number of years when the memories of the 'OLD' ships dims I do not doubt but that some of these vessels will be held up as classics. I draw your attention to the approbrium which was originally heaped on the foredeck of the now sanctified QE2 and more recently on the now beatified QM2.

I stand with the Oracle, all things must change and the oft repeated, romantic idea of the mighty ocean liner racing through the deep, down by the head with exquisitely dressed sophisticates rings a trifle hollow to me. Not that that will prevent me stepping aboard at every opportunity.BUT bring back the ship smell I say.

A Garrulous Gari.

P.S. Once, from the deck of a small tramp, I saw a clipper, I think it was the 'Pamir', in mid-Atlantic flying every rag she possessed. That was a magnificiently, toe-curlingly beautiful sight. But I was so glad I wasn't on board.

G.

[garigoun]

My thanks to Pepper and R.G. for their comprehensive and knowledgeable replies. Pepper's remark about not feeling like he was on a ship prompted a memory of my disappointment on my first time on a cruise ship/liner.

That was the QE2 about '96 I think. I had left the sea about 7 years before and was looking forward to being afloat again. She looked good at the dockside but when I boarded into that circular lobby with the young woman playing the harp and was then conducted to the cabin I did not feel like I was aboard a ship. For one thing there was no 'ship smell'. Perhaps Pepper might know what I mean, every ship I had sailed on had what I always thought of as a ship smell. Not unpleasant or pleasant but just there. From one of Bank Line's old Doxford clunkers to the spiffy Shell boats there was always a ship smell. (Though maybe the Grey Funnel Line have theall smell bulled out of them). And there was so little movement. Toooo smoooth. Now I'm not advocating that it should be like going round the horn every trip, seasickness is, I believe, a very horrible thing. But on the whole the voyages are so anodyne. The wx has to be really extreme to make these big boats move about. Cap'n Pugwash is a fan of a bit of boaty-ness too if I'm not mistaken.

So leaving all considerations of decor and marine architecture aside and adding the proviso that I enjoy my cruises and crossings, to me they are simply a means, a very civilised means, of getting to where I want to be. Of course I could fly but flying being what it is that is less than appealing. (If Dante was writing today I'm sure he would add a tenth circle of hell composed of an endless ring of departure lounges leading directily into arrival halls leading directly into departure lounges). But on none of the ships I have holidayed on have I felt that I was at sea to any great extent. On the RCCI boat earlier in the year I felt like I was in a small Vegas hotel. But again I'm not complaining about the ship per se it's just that I can't quite find the enthusiasm delight and partisanship that many posters have for these ships. To me, the heritage aspect of Cunard as it is presented is all a little ersatz and owes more to the auditor than to the historian. I don't wish to come accross as some doddering old Luddite hankering after the days of dreadnought prows, stayed funnels and deck ventilators, far from it. I am not sentimental about the sea or ships in general, I like them but that's as far as it goes and I do agree with Jimmy, people want balconies and the customer is the one who pays. Form follows function and so we have the so called floating appartment blocks. But with the passage of the requisite number of years when the memories of the 'OLD' ships dims I do not doubt but that some of these vessels will be held up as classics. I draw your attention to the approbrium which was originally heaped on the foredeck of the now sanctified QE2 and more recently on the now beatified QM2.

I stand with the Oracle, all things must change and the oft repeated, romantic idea of the mighty ocean liner racing through the deep, down by the head with exquisitely dressed sophisticates rings a trifle hollow to me. Not that that will prevent me stepping aboard at every opportunity.BUT bring back the ship smell I say.

A Garrulous Gari.

P.S. Once, from the deck of a small tramp, I saw a clipper, I think it was the 'Pamir', in mid-Atlantic flying every rag she possessed. That was a magnificiently, toe-curlingly beautiful sight. But I was so glad I wasn't on board.

G.

[RobertGraves]

Many thanks Gari for this detailed and impartial account of interesting views - rarely to be found on cruise forums IMHO. So wonderful a change from just speaking 'technicalities' of a cruise.

 

Food for thought. My respects.

[pepperrn]

Like you I prefer QM2 overall. She is unique and as the only active successor of the old ocean liners holds a special place in the heart of shiplover like me. Being able to cross the Atlantic on one of the world's largest ships on a regular basis without flying in the 21st century, was just unhoped for (not to mention that for more than two years she was the largest passenger ship in the world)

Hi Robert

Thanks for your great comments.

 

In 1969 QE2 entered service, both Concorde and the Boeing 747 first flew, and many people said that QE2 would be the last liner ever built. The future was in the skies and that Cunard had been mad to build an express liner in the supersonic age. QE2 would be withdrawn within a couple of years and the whole concept of transporting people by ship belonged in a museum.

Recently I was interested to see film of Cunard’s then new giant Atlantic liner QM2, over twice the size of QE2, passing Concorde, surely the most beautiful aircraft ever built, now a museum exhibit on a barge in New York Harbor.

 

…the Queens Room. That on QM2 impresses you with its vastness. Wow. The largest ballroom at sea indeed. But that on QV is arguably more 'classy', while her two-deck height makes it also spacious beyond what is considered 'normal' in the maistream cruise industry. Having afternoon tea within its elegant environment is such a delight…

I also thought the Queens Room on QV was “classy” and amongst the best rooms on board. I liked the lightness of the room in contrast to the sombre hues found elsewhere. Making it a double height space was the key I feel. I don’t suppose many passengers notice the clever disguise of the port side promenade where it intrudes into the room. The layout of the seating with raised platforms to give everyone a view, the Deck 3 balconies overlooking the dance floor below. It reminded me of 1st class lounges of liners of the past and strangely, of QE2 (her two deck high Grand Lounge had shops on the balcony as well).

Downsides? The room only spans two thirds of the width of the ship and has the main fore-aft Deck 2 passageway running along its starboard side. And then there is the odd annex beyond with no view of the dancing…

I like the “full hull width” vast Queens Room on QM2. OK the decoration of the central high vault and treatment of the forward bulkhead looks odd, but it’s a great setting for tea and my parents loved that dance floor…

Such brilliant innovations differentiate clearly QV and QE from all Vistas or Signatures, and, after the introduction of QM2, they were crucial to convince me that Carnival is really interested in Cunard.

I couldn’t agree more. How easy it would have been, and much cheaper, to introduce QV mark 1 instead of sending her over to P&O. Thank goodness they had a second try.

Add the rest of those innovations, Library, Winter Garden, Shopping Arcade, Grills complex, Hemispheres, and like you say THE Theatre, they all instantly incline me favourably towards the two newest Cunard ships.

QV already has a very loyal following and I think that QE may prove even more popular (what‘s in a name?…). There is so much to like and enjoy about both ships. I agree with you about the shopping arcade, and it has the added benefit of providing a natural place for the tatty market stalls for the inch of gold sales, leaving the Grand Lobby and passageways to the main restaurants clean and clear (unlike the unsightly and intrusive mess on QM2). The astounding Royal Court Theatre, the Commodore Club, the Library, the Golden Lion, the views from the Lido etc.

However, on QE I would have preferred NOT to have lost the Chart Room and the comfortable seating area in the lower level of the Library, I liked both on QV. I wish they’d have placed a sliding glass roof on one of the two pools on Deck 9. I am also concerned about the trolleys of food going ACROSS the passageway to the new Britannia Club restaurant and the flow of passengers going fore and aft ALONG the same passageway towards/from the lower Britannia Restaurant. I predict some clashes there…

But perhaps most important to me is QV's decor. So close to how many people would imagine a legendary ocean liner's surroundings! Actually this is somehow how as a child I used to think that QE2's interiors would look like, before seeing real photos.

I remember speaking to two sisters (on the next table to mine in the Caronia Restaurant, three years ago) on their first cruise. They had not seen photos of the interior of QE2 before boarding but had booked as she was the most famous ship in the world. To say they were disappointed with her layout and décor would be an understatement. They were not expecting the “one deck height” of the Queens Room, Caronia Restaurant and other public rooms on board. They wondered where the sweeping staircases were, the theatres, the majestic lounges that they had imagined all old liners had. I tried to explain that QE2 was a product of the 60s, not the 30s. I suggested they try QM2 next time. We’re still in touch, they’ve booked another cruise, unfortunately, not with Cunard.

 

Thanks again Robert, and very best wishes.

[garigoun]

I also thought the Queens Room on QV was “classy” and amongst the best rooms on board. I liked the lightness of the room in contrast to the sombre hues found elsewhere. Making it a double height space was the key I feel. I don’t suppose many passengers notice the clever disguise of the port side promenade where it intrudes into the room..

 

Well here is one passenger who certainly did not notice. Your comment sent me scurrying for a photograph. Not good quality as photographs go but it shows that feature quite well I think.

 

 

Gari

[The Welsh Man]

Well here is one passenger who certainly did not notice. Your comment sent me scurrying for a photograph. Not good quality as photographs go but it shows that feature quite well I think.

 

 

Gari

 

Thanks Gari,

 

Great photo, did you manage to show your Travolta moves on the dance floor?

[Ray66]

Thank you Pepper, Gari and Robert for your insights. It made for very interesting and enjoyable reading.

[pepperrn]

Well here is one passenger who certainly did not notice. Your comment sent me scurrying for a photograph. Not good quality as photographs go but it shows that feature quite well I think.

 

 

Gari

 

Hi Gari

Thank you for finding that picture, I also think it shows it off very well. Great photo, yours?

I'll answer your earlier evocative (I know that smell!) post later if I may.

Thanks again,

[blue whale]

Thank you all for the descriptions and now the picture. You are making a trip on Queen Elizabeth hard to pass up.

 

I appreciate!

 

Blue Whale

[blue whale]

double post

[pepperrn]

Pepper's remark about not feeling like he was on a ship prompted a memory of my disappointment on my first time on a cruise ship/liner. That was the QE2 about '96 I think. For one thing there was no 'ship smell'. Perhaps Pepper might know what I mean, every ship I had sailed on had what I always thought of as a ship smell. Not unpleasant or pleasant but just there. From one of Bank Line's old Doxford clunkers to the spiffy Shell boats there was always a ship smell.

 

Hi Gari, I do know what you mean. In my experience, each type of ship seemed to have a different one, and it was always present. I can’t describe them! But, talking specifically of vintage passenger ships, Walter Lord quoted J. Maxtone-Graham when he wrote… “an evocative blend of tea, flowers, floor wax and whatever stern British antiseptic had survived the war intact”…

 

(Though maybe the Grey Funnel Line have theall smell bulled out of them).

 

To me, the smell was an indistinct mixture of sea water, waste water and more than a whiff of oil. Maybe mixed in with a hint of corticene and a touch of pusser’s dust.

 

And there was so little movement. Toooo smoooth. Now I'm not advocating that it should be like going round the horn every trip, seasickness is, I believe, a very horrible thing. The wx has to be really extreme to make these big boats move about.

 

I don’t suffer from nautical nausea myself, and feel sorry for those who genuinely do, but I like to feel the deck shift and move beneath my feet. I think of a particular night in the QM2 Commodore Club where we all appeared to be in a slow moving giant elevator, gently rising and falling one or two whole decks every few seconds. Wonderful. On another occasion, on the way to dinner, trying not to duck-walk down a corridor that appeared to be corkscrewing its way across the ocean. Such fun!

 

I don't wish to come accross as some doddering old Luddite hankering after the days of dreadnought prows, stayed funnels and deck ventilators, far from it. I am not sentimental about the sea or ships in general, I like them but that's as far as it goes and I do agree with Jimmy, people want balconies and the customer is the one who pays. Form follows function and so we have the so called floating appartment blocks.

 

Agreed, But a few (e.g. QV/QE) look better than many others (e.g. Norwegian Epic/Pride of America). Some still look like ships, others merely have a short pointy bit stuck on one end as an afterthought.

 

I draw your attention to the opprobrium which was originally heaped on the foredeck of the now sanctified QE2 and more recently on the now beatified QM2.

 

Quite! The shock of the new! I’m sure that devotees of the “Georgian” Aquitania couldn’t abide the “Art Deco” Queen Mary. And in turn, fans of the two great Cunard sisters were upset on being told that they had been “boring their way across the seas”. They took one look at the “mod” QE2 “without a proper Cunard Red funnel”, and wondered if the world had gone mad. The shock to a passenger, used to the massive vaulted double height 1st class lounge on the QM walking into the 1st class Queens Room on the QE2 would have been interesting to see. And, more recently, the process continued when QE2 stopped sailing. And will again in 30 years time when it comes time for QM2 to retire. Each ship has its fans, a generation of passengers who feel “their” ship is being replaced by some hideous new monstrosity. Who knows what will replace QM2, QV, QE. But I’m sure that the loyal fans of all three at the time will be moaning that the new, replacement ships “aren't REAL Cunard ships at all, QM2/QV/QE were the last ones…”

[Cruachan]

To me, the smell was an indistinct mixture of sea water, waste water and more than a whiff of oil. Maybe mixed in with a hint of corticene and a touch of pusser’s dust.

 

My "cruises" courtesy of the Old Grey Funnel Line were restricted to those elegant and luxurious ocean greyhounds, the "Round Table" Class LSLs!

 

There the overhelming (some might be unkind enough to say "overpowering") olfactory impression was "floating petrol station". And, when loading operations were in progress over the ramp, that became "floating petrol station at the bottom of a long, poorly ventilated road tunnel"

 

:D:D

 

J

 

PS - I never got to travel Grill Class on those either!

[RobertGraves]

Hi Pepper,

 

So many valid remarks, let me add to some of them.

 

In 1969 QE2 entered service, both Concorde and the Boeing 747 first flew, and many people said that QE2 would be the last liner ever built. The future was in the skies and that Cunard had been mad to build an express liner in the supersonic age. QE2 would be withdrawn within a couple of years and the whole concept of transporting people by ship belonged in a museum.

Recently I was interested to see film of Cunard’s then new giant Atlantic liner QM2, over twice the size of QE2, passing Concorde, surely the most beautiful aircraft ever built, now a museum exhibit on a barge in New York Harbor.

 

I shall only say: what a DELIGHT!...:D :D

 

 

I also thought the Queens Room on QV was “classy”... It reminded me of 1st class lounges of liners of the past.

 

This can be obtained by personal experience of the original Queen Mary in Long Beach, which I had the good fortune to stay on last year. Comparisons were inevitable. Venues like the Queens Room tend to 'convince' you that QV is really an heir to great Cunarders of the past, not just a PR ploy.

 

 

Downsides? The room only spans two thirds of the width of the ship and has the main fore-aft Deck 2 passageway running along its starboard side. And then there is the odd annex beyond with no view of the dancing…

I like the “full hull width” vast Queens Room on QM2. OK the decoration of the central high vault and treatment of the forward bulkhead looks odd, but it’s a great setting for tea and my parents loved that dance floor…

 

All valid comments. I could only say in defense that it is certainly more 'appropriate' that the traffic flow does not 'interrupt' the integrity of the Queens Room by running 'inside' it. The annex itself is not that bad, as it creates an independent space to sit and read a book for example (if you are allowed by the traffic, of course...:D). Besides, it could arguably somehow compensate for the loss of the Chart Room on the new QE by creating a bar there.

 

The fact that the Queens Room on QV spans only two thirds of the ship's width has also led to accusations that it is rather small to accommodate all passengers, especially during afternoon tea. On the other hand QM2's Queens Room is flawless for both beauty and function. I would add that I liked the Queens Room of the QE2 for this reason, spanning all the width of the ship and yet allowing for the traffic flow to pass unnoticed for most of the occupants. Something similar happens on QM2 for those wishing to visit G32. Interestingly the Queens Rooms on both QV and QE2 had the same length, so that of QE2 could accommodate more passengers.

 

However, on QE I would have preferred NOT to have lost the Chart Room and the comfortable seating area in the lower level of the Library, I liked both on QV. I wish they’d have placed a sliding glass roof on one of the two pools on Deck 9. I am also concerned about the trolleys of food going ACROSS the passageway to the new Britannia Club restaurant and the flow of passengers going fore and aft ALONG the same passageway towards/from the lower Britannia Restaurant. I predict some clashes there…

 

Reductions at the lowel level of the Library? OMG, I did't notice that! :eek: What a loss! When did it happen? Is it to make more room for the Verandah?

 

I too have much lamented the loss of the beautiful Chart Room on QE, and all the concerns about traffic clashes between trolleys and passengers look valid. In any case, it seems that no more appropriate place for the Club could be found. The idea of the Club itself, eating 'anytime' at your own table without having to occupy a Suite, is quite appropriate on a ship with pretensions to luxury, so it should not be lost as it happened on QV (although a conversion there too seems rather probable). The Club is the heir to QE2's Caronia and I only wish it was so large as that was.

 

Speaking of restaurants, a frequent accusation of QV is that her Britannia Restaurant is not so dramatic as QM2's; that it is really not a double-deck restaurant but two restaurants on two decks, because of the 'small' central well. However, this helps that QV's Britannia has the most restaurant-space for passenger of any Vista Class ship or derivative. Not only just a little space is lost to create the well, but even more space is saved by the absense of the Grill passengers as well. Free space in Britannia will become even more abundant with the introduction of the Club on QE. Great for tables-for-two seekers.:)

 

Best wishes,

Robert

[guernseyguy]

Here's Gene Sloan's take on Queen Elizabeth from USA Today noting the differences vs Queen Victoria.

 

Still, Cunard has tinkered with a number of the rooms on Queen Elizabeth. 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. Shanks says the more prominent stairway "brings more history and tradition to the room."

 

The entryway to the Queens Room dance floor also has been moved from the side to the center to improve passenger flow, says Shanks. And the Garden Lounge also is a departure, as it sits in a space that on Queen Victoria is topped with a less-soaring magrodome retractable roof.

 

Moving the entry to the Queen's Room is an interesting idea - I wonder what that does to the passageway starboard? I'd check on the deck plan.....but I'm likely to die of old age before the whizzy new ones load.....

[RobertGraves]

I'd check on the deck plan.....but I'm likely to die of old age before the whizzy new ones load.....

 

:D I have exactly the same problem...

 

If you succeed, will you please check about the status of the lower level of the Library? Do you know anything about its reduction?

[pepperrn]

:D I have exactly the same problem...

 

If you succeed, will you please check about the status of the lower level of the Library? Do you know anything about its reduction?

 

Hi Robert

A couple of renderings of QE I saw showed the library unchanged in size, but the area on QV where there is a table and chairs at the bottom of the spiral stairs, had been fitted with more bookcases instead. Previous experience has taught me that these computer "views" turn out to be fairly accurate, but I hope I'm proved wrong in this case.

Sorry I wasn't clearer about this before :o , very best wishes

[guernseyguy]

:D I have exactly the same problem...If you succeed, will you please check about the status of the lower level of the Library? Do you know anything about its reduction?

 

It finally loaded - but the deck plans do not show a central entrance for the Queen's Room - perhaps they have not kept up with construction....and the lower Library looks exactly the same size as Queen Victoria......

[RobertGraves]

Many thanks to you both, Peter and Pepper. Now it makes sense...