New picture of Queen Elizabeth

[oldsilverfox]

Food services, reservations, marketing assistance, decorating, staffing, interior design, engineering and ship's officers come from Carnival?

 

Nope..they all come from P&O/Princess...they call the shots.

 

This is totally wrong.

 

I am a member of the gym at the local University. It specialises in marine training and many of the students, both new and mature are sent there by Carnival PLC to attend a whole range of basic and refresher courses.

 

Speaking to them they say that they are all moved around within the entire Carnival group as required, e.g. HAL to Cunard, P&O to Princess, etc etc.

 

If what you say was true, what are staff from HAL ships doing there?

[guernseyguy]

Food services, reservations, marketing assistance, decorating, staffing, interior design, engineering and ship's officers come from Carnival?

 

Nope..they all come from P&O/Princess...they call the shots.

 

 

Source? 'The World Awaits'........:rolleyes:

[guernseyguy]

I've advocated could eliminate Cunard looking and feeling much like a Princess ship

 

How could you possibly know since you have not sailed on either?

[dmwnc1959]

Do you ever write a comment without Cunard, Princess and P&O in the same sentence? :rolleyes:

 

Why do you come onto these boards without anything productive or even positive to say? Just curious....... :rolleyes:

 

With the exception of a very few posts on the Carnival board, a couple on NCL, one on P&O and a carbon copy post on HAL, SAVOIA's posts for the last SIX MONTHS have found a home on the Cunard board, and always and soley negatively commenting on Cunard and the new Queen Elizabeth.

 

SAVOIA's carbon copy post I found on HAL:

 

 

I was terribly disappointed to see the Nieuw is another Eurodam and more like the Queen Elizabeth with all the additional decks above the bridge. Holland America even got the boat deck Grill facility found on the QV and QE. A very lazy design I thought. I wish these Carnival brands would stop looking like each other.

[oldsilverfox]

And I wish that these anti-everything Carnival posts would stop looking like each other.

[dmwnc1959]

And I wish that these anti-everything Carnival posts would stop looking like each other.

 

And its not just on CC. There are literally a hundred similarly negative posts slamming Cunard and the new QE on websites like maritimematters and USA Today's 'The Cruise Log' by Gene Sloan. SAVOIA has taken it upon himself to be a one-man attack squad against everything Carnival Corporation and the new Cunard fleet.

[guernseyguy]

SAVOIA has taken it upon himself to be a one-man attack squad against everything Carnival Corporation and the new Cunard fleet.

 

I wonder why? Hell hath no fury......

[carlmm]

SAVOIA has taken it upon himself to be a one-man attack squad against everything Carnival Corporation and the new Cunard fleet.

 

Maybe he has taken the deed of a "one-man" critic because some posters here do not allow any critic of anything related to Cunard?

 

Unfortunately some people here do create an atmosphere where it efforts a kind of braveness to speak out one's opinion when it is not full of applause for Carnival.

 

So I will join the members who did dare:

 

IMHO:

The Queen Elizabeth is ugly.

Being regarded "useful" by some is no excuse for this. (Both QE2 and QM2 as well as ships from other lines are examples of other possible designs.)

There should be real teak decks.

Especially given that there are only two, soon three ships, there would have been officers who made a career at Cunard and could have become captains or just have continued as officers on Cunard shops instead of being sent to predominantely Princess ships while Princess officers took over Cunard ships.

Similiarly there appears to be a difference, broadly spoken, between stewards trained on the QE2 and those with less sophistication from Princess.

...

 

Of course nobody needs to agree but this does not make anybody better or worse.

[dmwnc1959]

Maybe he has taken the deed of a "one-man" critic because some posters here do not allow any critic of anything related to Cunard?

 

 

I dont really think that's it at all. I think it would be better understood if he had experienced, cruised on, travelled in, and sailed in these new ships, any of them at all, any Vista-Class at all, to establish a basis for such a total and complete negative critical opinion. Looking at a bunch of pretty pictures really doesn't convey the real and true 'expereince' to someone sitting at a computer monitor.

 

It's obvious by a recent thread I started that those who have actually been on QV have really enjoyed themselves, even more so than the QE2. But to soley judge the complete package, the total experience, the entire design and line of ships soley by their exterior appearance, with no regard to what is on the inside, is utter non-sense.

[guernseyguy]

The Queen Elizabeth is ugly. Being regarded "useful" by some is no excuse for this.

I think externally she is no worse than many contemporary cruise ships, and not as good as others (mainly RCL). But if paying passengers want balconies there is only so much you can do. And I think the disadvantage of the steep stern is outweighed by the 'usefulness' of the extra deck space created (paying passengers trump armchair critics). If the original QE2 was so great why was it systematically disfigured over the years? Internally none of us know yet - except for a few who critique from the safeness of their computer screen and delight in professing that they will never set foot on her.

There should be real teak decks

Agree

Especially given that there are only two, soon three ships, there would have been officers who made a career at Cunard and could have become captains or just have continued as officers on Cunard shops instead of being sent to predominantely Princess ships while Princess officers took over Cunard ships.

Disagree. A three ship fleet is tiny and you will severely limit the career progression of Officers by limiting them to Cunard. The good ones will leave and you'll be left with the plodders.

 

Some fantasists believe that Princess (founded 1966) 'owned' P&O (founded 1837) - sorry, wrong way round. P&O bought Princess in 1977 (and AIDA in 1999)....then with the Carnival merger, all became part of Carnival.

 

With Cunard (Miami, R.I.P.) making a muck up of the introduction of QM2, Princess (British owned for the majority of its existence and run from London, and with experience of very big ships) was given responsibility for Cunard from 2003-2007. In 2007 this passed back to where it belongs, Southampton, with the head of Carnival Plc having full operating responsibility......so it is entirely natural that Carnival Plc should continue to rotate officers throughout the P&O (and its former subsidiary Princess) fleet, and offer opportunities for Cunard officers.

 

Similiarly there appears to be a difference, broadly spoken, between stewards trained on the QE2 and those with less sophistication from Princess.

Haven't experienced this - it shouldn't happen - and if it does, you should complain. And frankly my ex-QE2 waiter in PG on QV was a bit of a moaning minnie.....

 

Cunard is carrying more passengers on newer ships in half a century....yet for some the glass will be forever half empty!

[bcscot]

I don't know if it applies in this case, but I have heard of people getting 'perks' from one company, for going online & bashing the opposition in reviews & on boards etc. :cool:

 

I do think that the absence of teak decks on Cunard Vistas was a bad choice for such a traditional company, when the HAL Vistas (another traditional company) all have teak decks.

 

I also agree that many posters make it uncomfortable for others to post their views, but it is not confined to the Cunard forum. HAL & many of the others are just as bad. People! :(

[bazzaw]

A three ship fleet is tiny

 

This is true - and especially so as Cunard "specialises" in Atlantic line voyages.

 

The Captains and upcoming Officers seek experience, change and adventure as much as anyone else. The Master Designate for the new QE is Captain Chris Wells who very recently was the Captain onboard the "lowly" P&O Australia ship Pacific Dawn. My understanding is that he loved his experience onboard PD down-under. Certainly it is a BIG jump from the Pac Dawn (as much as I love her and the Aussie/South Pacific cruising experience) to the new QE.

 

As I said in another post, all these new cruiseships are slowly converging in appearance and design to be floating apartment blocks. That is what the market mostly wants - the market these days (even for upmarket lines like Cunard) specifically being a "mass market". That is OK for a peasant like me - this mass marketing and the ship designs catering to it is what allows me to cruise. :p

 

Barry

[highcbob]

Reading above does QE really have plastic decking similar to QV? What a shame if it does.

[William Dean]

The Master Designate for the new QE is Captain Chris Wells who very recently was the Captain onboard the "lowly" P&O Australia ship Pacific Dawn. My understanding is that he loved his experience onboard PD down-under. Certainly it is a BIG jump from the Pac Dawn (as much as I love her and the Aussie/South Pacific cruising experience) to the new QE.

 

Captain Wells has previously commanded QM2. So he's certainly not new to Cunard......

[pepperrn]

Captain Wells has previously commanded QM2. So he's certainly not new to Cunard......

 

Indeed, he was Captain of the Queen Mary 2 when I took two cruises on her in 2008, and I can recall seeing the Blue Duster at the stern of the ship at Southampton.

So, QM2 to QE is a SMALL jump, I wish him well as the first master of the new ship.

[bazzaw]

:p I wasn't implying that it was a big jump for Captain Wells as such - but a big jump between ships. However I am sure that there is valuable experience to be had ( even for him) in the Tasman Sea - plus he seemed to absolutely enjoy the irreverant Aussie laid back "style" onboard the ship. He looked quite good in CD Zoltina Jay's red sparkling high heels:p

 

Barry

[Ray66]

Captain Wells has previously commanded QM2. So he's certainly not new to Cunard......

 

And he was on the QV in April when we sailed on her.

[guernseyguy]

Reading above does QE really have plastic decking similar to QV? What a shame if it does.

 

We don't know yet - the strong suspicion is that she does.

[dmwnc1959]

And I wish that these anti-everything Carnival posts would stop looking like each other.

 

I know what you mean. Here's another one from maritimematters by Kevin (aka Savoia):

 

Sadly all her images look like a Queen Victoria/Eurodam/Nieuw Amesterdam mix. And sadly like Queen Victoria this Vista Queen looks like the Ruby Princess. Apparently the fast food like design found its Cunard theme on the Ruby…new solarium and all.

All those resources at Carnival and we see the same thing over and over again.

[guernseyguy]

The We Are Cunard blog has some more pictures of Queen Elizabeth - the Games Deck is shaping up nicely and the Lido has this fun artwork:

 

[highcbob]

I know this will set 'someone' off again, however I am disappointed that in the (QE) Garden Lounge it contains the same ornamental iron work and much of the woodwork design that is identical to QV's Winter Garden. QE is art deco based and QV of course is Victorian. Why did they not try to keep QE's public space unique to the rest of the deco 'theme' of the ship rather than mix in 'Victoriana'?

[guernseyguy]

I know this will set 'someone' off again, however I am disappointed that in the (QE) Garden Lounge it contains the same ornamental iron work and much of the woodwork design that is identical to QV's Winter Garden. QE is art deco based and QV of course is Victorian. Why did they not try to keep QE's public space unique to the rest of the deco 'theme' of the ship rather than mix in 'Victoriana'?

 

I agree - its a missed opportunity (and quite a lot of Queen Victoria is rather more Art Nouveau than Victorian neo-gothic in any case.)

 

Hey, ho, the 'ship beautiful' RMS Aquitania was a hodge podge of styles too from Louis XVI to Palladian and so forth and so on.....and one of the true 'pure' Art Deco liners, Normandie was a commercial failure, while frumpy Queen Mary raked in the dough....

 

.....meanwhile, I have read on another board that the Lido mural may be an 'homage' (charitable interpretation) to the SS Roma of 1926.....those parasols would not have lasted two minutes on the North Atlantic!

[guernseyguy]

And now there is a new paintingof Queen Elizabeth:

 

 

And thanks to the Times Colonist jumping the embargo we get to read Mr Shanks' comments early....

 

Commenting on how the artist was chosen, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, said, “Apart from being impressed by the quality of Isobel’s work, which we originally saw on display in the National Portrait Gallery, we were keen to offer the commission to a young artist who had never before had such an opportunity. Isobel is, in fact, the youngest female artist ever to paint the monarch, and the quality of the finished work is such that our confidence has been greatly rewarded.” He added, “It is a truly wonderful picture of Her Majesty. It is even more remarkable when you consider that, lacking a private studio, Isobel executed this magnificent painting in her mum’s attic!”

 

The Queen granted three sittings for the portrait, a three-quarter length painting which shows her dressed in blue and wearing Queen Victoria’s collet necklace and earrings, which she also wore for her Coronation in 1953.

[William Dean]

And now there is a new paintingof Queen Elizabeth:

 

 

 

Whilst being pleased that there is a new commission involved, and all that means, weren't there a couple of paintings that would have looked good on the new ship?

 

One might have looked great where the Linley thing is.....

[guernseyguy]

Whilst being pleased that there is a new commission involved, and all that means, weren't there a couple of paintings that would have looked good on the new ship?

 

One might have looked great where the Linley thing is.....

 

I think there are some old paintings onboard - but the 'QE2 must be preserved its all Carnival's fault' confuse a cruise line with a museum....meanwhile, here's the full painting: