LIVE: Queen Elizabeth Q106 'Maiden Fjords & Waterfalls'

[northernsailor]

Hello everyone!

 

I am currently sat in Ocean Terminal looking out to Queen Elizabeth on a beautiful sunny morning in Southampton. We set off @ 5am from Harrogate today and travelled down in two cars, stopping off at the big shopping centre (West Quay) for a quick refreshment.

 

After dropping both the cars at the valet parking we headed straight upstairs to the terminal to see about 50 other people already waiting.

 

All the check-in staff are having a meeting at the minute and will be taking position shortly to allow us to embark.

 

Stores are hurriedly being loaded on the ship, I can see about 35 pallets queued up full of various fruits and foodstuffs!

 

I will be posting daily here and on my blog with photos at http://www.yeah.org.uk

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[KirkNC]

Thanks, looking forward to your report.

 

Kirk

[bkecky]

Enjoy your first sailaway with your champagne!

[Ray66]

Glad to hear you made the journey in good time as we are also thinking of leaving at 5.00am the same day for our next cruise.

 

Looking forward to reading your journal.

 

I got an email just yesterday from Cunard saying this cruise is to be interactive

 

Experience a Cunard Adventure

 

Following on from the interactive Transatlantic Crossing last year on Queen Mary 2 our newest addition to the Cunard fleet, Queen Elizabeth will be hosting an interactive voyage as she travels to the heart of the Norwegian Fjords.

 

Your Virtual Voyage departs 19 May 2011

 

If you are not amongst the lucky guests joining Queen Elizabeth on her Maiden Fjords and Waterfalls voyage departing this Thursday, then follow us on our facebook page.

 

By following us on facebook you can keep up to date with what's happening on board as well as letting us know what you would like to see, both on board and ashore, then sit back and enjoy the voyage through our regular photo updates.

 

If you have any questions about the ports of call we will be visiting, about what you can do and see whilst there, or about our newest addition to the Cunard fleet, Queen Elizabeth then post your questions on our facebook page.

 

We will be visiting the renowned ports of Stavanger - blessed with a rich history and natural beauty, Flamm - famed for it's incredible railway, Geiranger - home of some of Norway's most spectacular scenery and Bergen - the second-largest city in Norway and known to many as the 'Gateway to the Fjords'.

 

We look forward to welcoming you on board

 

We hope you enjoy the virtual voyage and that it inspires you to join us on one of our other voyages to the Fjords this summer. We do still have a limited number of stateroom available and it would certainly give us great pleasure to welcome you on board.

[northernsailor]

Update 2.

 

Our luggage arrived nearly immediately after we arrived at our stateroom. We unpacked and headed to the spa to book a few bits. Unlike Queen Victoria they don't offer a spa pass for the entire voyage - only 1, 3, 5 or 10 nights - which makes this voyage of 7 nights a little awkward. I bought us a couple of 10 day passes as we are on the voyage afterwards too.

 

We headed to the lido where there wasn't a huge selection to be honest. I had a chicken breast and some egg fried rice and then headed out to the Lido pool area to check out the new, bigger deckspace that QE offers. Its full of sunbeds currently and the sun is fairly hot out on deck. There are a few sun worshippers out already. The crew are setting up the sailaway tables with glasses and champagne.

 

After a brief (alcoholic) drink from one of the outside bars we wondered to the Britannia restaurant to have a peek at where our table is - so far so good.

 

They are still loading suitcases aboard the ship and Peter Shanks has just walked past with a group of visitors pointing and smiling.

 

2hrs to go until the liferaft drill and then sailaway.

 

Time for some more exploring!

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[FoghornLeghorn]

Looking forward to sailing along with you

 

Bon Voyage!

[Oahucruiser]

I always enjoy your posts. Have a wonderful time on that beautiful ship and on that scenic itinerary! We just went on her for the world cruise and loved every minute.

[capnpugwash]

Hope that you have a great cruise and look forward to reading your observations.

[north east girl]

Hi, looking forward to your posts on this wonderful voyage.

 

Catherine

[northernsailor]

Update 3

 

After some exploring it was time for the liferaft drill. My muster station (assembly point) is in the Royal Theatre, this is just a short walk down a few flights of stairs from my stateroom. After the drill, the Captain (Captain Christopher Wells) gave us a navigational talk about how we were going to leave Southampton and the route we were going to take towards our first port of call, Stavanger.

 

We headed out deck to Deck 10 and got ourselves a table and chairs ready for the sailaway. You wouldn't believe how warm the sun was in Southampton! We cracked open the champagne and toasted to a good sailaway party - the band were out in force and there were even couples salsa dancing at somepoints!

 

After that we headed to our stateroom and got ready for our first meal - Elegant Casual, as always on the first night of a cruise. Heading down to dinner we walked along Deck 2 and stopped at what would be the Veuve Cliquot bar on QV, but is just a collection of tables and chairs on here which is still nice. We had a brief drink before heading to our table in the Britannia Restaurant. Our table is an 8 - 3 of us, a couple and two other ladies with their mother. We all got along really well, although the couple were very quiet as they were sandwiched between the two groups of 3 unfortunately!

 

Food was lovely, I mainly had the Spa selection as wanted something light. The waiters were lovely and very attentive though one of the 'managers' interrogated me on my way in when I reported my table number and he asked for the card it was printed on twice before letting me go to my table - like I was trying to sneak onto a different table!*

 

After dinner we headed straight to Churchill's - the beauty of Queen Elizabeth is everything is laid out just like Queen Victoria so it's so easy to find everything. We met the Ship's comedian in there and stayed up till 3am with him - he was also dancing with my friend in The Yacht Club (Hemispheres on QV) - he is very funny and his show is on saturday night.

 

Tonight the seas are extremely smooth, the wind is very little and it's pleasant on the balcony, as we pass through the English Channel there is so much shipping traffic every which way you look! It is amazing how they manage to navigate so safely.

 

So far, so good. Queen Elizabeth is a beautiful ship, like a more refined Queen Victoria - she still has a special place in my heart though.

 

More later!

 

Ps sorry for the delay in updates, the ships network has been terrible to get any type of connection at all - I have update 4 written and will post it shortly :)

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[Oahucruiser]

Is the comedian Kenny Smiles from Wales - - the Mad Welshman? I first met him in Churchills on the QV and then again in the same place on the QE's world cruise. Cunard has him on often as he is hilarious and also a great singer. He often sings Sweet Caroline and The Green Green Grass of Home and they are fabulous! Don't sit in the front row if you don't want to be picked on for his first show!! He got a standing ovation both nights that he was on this year. If you think of it, please tell him the little blonde lady from Hawaii is reading about him via your posts.

[vannerhawk]

Hi Patty, Good to hear from you. Kenny Smiles was great as were our times in Churchills together on QE WC. Judith

[northernsailor]

Update 4.

 

This morning I had planned to get up early, have breakfast in Britannia Restaurant and then take a fencing lesson at 9am.

 

Unfortunately due to the evils of alcohol I decided to sleep in until around 11am. After a quick shower I headed over to the starboard side of the ship and the other cabin we have. The sun was mainly on the starboard side of the ship all day and it was lovely to sit on the balcony, a very gentle breeze and a really flat sea as we made 19kts towards Stavanger. We ordered some coffees from room service and soaked up the sun. Sea days are fantastic if you have great weather for them.*

 

As the day went on, shipping traffic, gas and oil platforms have come less and less and it's just us and miles of ocean surrounding us. It's blue skies and perfect sailing weather, not even a slight swell to rock us - hard to believe really after some of my previous North Sea experiences!

 

At midday the Captain made his midday announcement. This was one of the longest announcements from a Captain I have heard, it was full of great navigational information from around Dover to where we are now. Then the Officer of the Watch updated us with a few bits like what heading we were at, ships speed and some other stats. Ie. Queen Elizabeth burns through 120tons of fuel a day and can carry 3000 tons of fuel. It takes 1litre of fuel to move her just 58 feet! At the time we were 254nm from Stavanger.

 

For lunch we headed to the Britannia restaurant and after watching the fruit and vegetable carving in the main lobby we then got ourselves a table looking right out the stern on Deck 2 of the restaurant watching the ship's wake trail behind us. I had a lovely soup followed by 'sliders' (mini beef burgers) - it was lovely, but I was still tired so grabbed another 2hrs sleep. Just before that we did a complete walk around Deck 3 outside and it's great that you can walk the entire deck around the ship without going inside.*

 

At 4pm we headed to the gym which was a hive of activity, there was a spin class on and all but a few treadmills in use. I found a treadmill and set to have a run. Queen Elizabeth has the latest Lifefitness treadmills which are all touchscreen and include iPod docks. Each one allows you to easily set goals and see graphically at anytime where you are with them. Furthermore, you can play card games, some sort of sudoku and other memory games whilst running (quite tricky!) - or if you wish you can watch any of the ship's tv channels. I didn't bother picking the bow webcam as the treadmills in the gym look over the bow and it was flat as anything. It was at this point i noticed channel 41 - a stern view webcam! This is a new feed which is not available on Queen Victoria or Queen Mary 2 and you can see the lovely wake of the ship at anytime not just from the treadmills but on the tv in your stateroom.

 

After a run I headed to The Bath House (the spa area) and sat in the Hydrotherapy pool for around 30mins, it was fabulous. Not too busy and super attentive staff offering fruit and water. I needed longer in there but left it a little late. At 6 I headed back to the cabin and got ready for our first Formal night.

 

More soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris*

 

Ps. The comedian is David Copperfield (actually his real name is Stan Copperfield)

[bkecky]

I can't wait to use the gym (not a phrase you hear often...)! Glad they have got spinning classes! I always find the other classes a bit tame so maybe that will be harder work.

 

Update 4.

 

This morning I had planned to get up early, have breakfast in Britannia Restaurant and then take a fencing lesson at 9am.

 

Unfortunately due to the evils of alcohol I decided to sleep in until around 11am. After a quick shower I headed over to the starboard side of the ship and the other cabin we have. The sun was mainly on the starboard side of the ship all day and it was lovely to sit on the balcony, a very gentle breeze and a really flat sea as we made 19kts towards Stavanger. We ordered some coffees from room service and soaked up the sun. Sea days are fantastic if you have great weather for them.*

 

As the day went on, shipping traffic, gas and oil platforms have come less and less and it's just us and miles of ocean surrounding us. It's blue skies and perfect sailing weather, not even a slight swell to rock us - hard to believe really after some of my previous North Sea experiences!

 

At midday the Captain made his midday announcement. This was one of the longest announcements from a Captain I have heard, it was full of great navigational information from around Dover to where we are now. Then the Officer of the Watch updated us with a few bits like what heading we were at, ships speed and some other stats. Ie. Queen Elizabeth burns through 120tons of fuel a day and can carry 3000 tons of fuel. It takes 1litre of fuel to move her just 58 feet! At the time we were 254nm from Stavanger.

 

For lunch we headed to the Britannia restaurant and after watching the fruit and vegetable carving in the main lobby we then got ourselves a table looking right out the stern on Deck 2 of the restaurant watching the ship's wake trail behind us. I had a lovely soup followed by 'sliders' (mini beef burgers) - it was lovely, but I was still tired so grabbed another 2hrs sleep. Just before that we did a complete walk around Deck 3 outside and it's great that you can walk the entire deck around the ship without going inside.*

 

At 4pm we headed to the gym which was a hive of activity, there was a spin class on and all but a few treadmills in use. I found a treadmill and set to have a run. Queen Elizabeth has the latest Lifefitness treadmills which are all touchscreen and include iPod docks. Each one allows you to easily set goals and see graphically at anytime where you are with them. Furthermore, you can play card games, some sort of sudoku and other memory games whilst running (quite tricky!) - or if you wish you can watch any of the ship's tv channels. I didn't bother picking the bow webcam as the treadmills in the gym look over the bow and it was flat as anything. It was at this point i noticed channel 41 - a stern view webcam! This is a new feed which is not available on Queen Victoria or Queen Mary 2 and you can see the lovely wake of the ship at anytime not just from the treadmills but on the tv in your stateroom.

 

After a run I headed to The Bath House (the spa area) and sat in the Hydrotherapy pool for around 30mins, it was fabulous. Not too busy and super attentive staff offering fruit and water. I needed longer in there but left it a little late. At 6 I headed back to the cabin and got ready for our first Formal night.

 

More soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris*

 

Ps. The comedian is David Copperfield (actually his real name is Stan Copperfield)

[northernsailor]

Update #5

 

The first formal night started off with a Captain's Welcome Cocktail Party. At least 100 people queued to enter the Queen's Room and be greeted by Captain Wells. I spoke briefly with him about the Royal Navy Reserves and his past involvement and he was very charming and enthusiastic - he makes a great ambassador for Cunard.

 

After a brief drink in the Queen's Room we headed to our restaurant for the evening and met up had a good chat with everyone about their 'sea day' - it appears just about everyone soaked up some rays on the open decks during the day. As we had a late one last night we decided on an early night so we could be up ready for the arrival into Stavanger and our tour shortly afterwards.

 

I awoke around 5.30 - I left the curtains open so I could see out of the balcony and see whether we were arriving into Stavanger yet or were still at sea, we were moving around 15kts slowly down the 18mile route into Stavanger.

 

I watched us come into the port, perform a 180 degree turn and then slowly back into the tiny little port. It's amazing how something as big as Queen Elizabeth is able to so delicately move into such a tiny 'parking space'. We headed to breakfast at the Britannia Restaurant where I had Eggs Benedict - where were okay, not amazing and then left the ship to join our tour.

 

Our tour was the Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock trip. The beauty of this tour is it's literally off the gangway of the ship and a 100m walk to the boat that takes you to Lysefjord. We boarded the tour boat with about 80 other guests and set off. The weather was overcast, with the odd bit of sun but around 14c and no wind so rather pleasant. After about 45mins or so we arrived at the Helleren Fjord Restaurant - a custom built tiny restaurant into some rock in the middle of Lysefjord. They served us up hot waffles with jam and cream and coffee or tea. After about 25mins we left there and headed to the Pulpit Rock which was clear enough for us to see from below and a love freshwater waterfall that cascaded down into the fjord from a height of around 600metres. We then travelled back the 50mins to the dock. After a brief 20min walk around Stavanger we decided to head back to the ship. We ate lunch in the Lido, which was nice. Steak Diane for a main course, which was perfect.

 

We decided we fancied the spa, so got changed and sat in there - it was lovely and warm and after reading a book for 20mins we both fell asleep for about 50mins - at which point it was a little too late to get into the Hydrotherapy pool as we are due to set sail at 5pm this afternoon.

 

After a small decision based on the sun and the wind, we decided to have a little sailaway party for the 3 of us in our Port side stateroom. We watched them throw the lines and after a brief navigational announcement from Captain Wells we set sail. He said tonight's voyage could be a little windy as a depression is moving in from Scotland. He said the total distance to our next port (Flaam) is 209nm and 100nm of it is a run through a large fjord with two pilots aboard - both of which we'd be picking up at 1am.

 

Tonight is the second formal night and we plan on seeing the comedian (David Copperfield) straight afterwards.

 

More soon :)

 

Chris

[north east girl]

Hi Chris, Thanks for keeping us up dated on your trip. Are you in the navy? Our son is Fleet Air Arm, currently on duty abroad for 3 months.

 

I see we will get the chance to meet when we are on the QM2 June next year.

 

Catherine and Tony

[northernsailor]

Update 6.

 

The second formal night went well. The ship is making her way out of Stavanger and now we are back in the sea she is moving around quite a bit. A mixture of some swells but buffeting winds have made her have a bit of a corkscrew effect - although most people don't get seasick on cruise ships these days, this type of motion is annoying because its unpredictable and makes walking look like you've just finished an 18hr drinking session!

 

After the meal we headed fairly promptly to the Royal Theatre. Noticing most of the boxes were empty on the starboard side (as boxes were not available for booking on this night) we decided to sit in one of those. All boxes come with two chairs and a table, but there is room for more seating. I went and asked one of the crew if I could have another seat brought into the box and was told 'no' 'only 2 or 4 can sit in boxes' - this didn't make much sense to me and again I asked if I could just have a chair from another box in my box - I was told no and was then pointed out the 4 seater box - but this is 4 seats over two rows (different levels too) and was also full. After giving up trying to make any sense with them I took a chair out of one of the other empty boxes and put it in my box. There is usually a waiter service on the paid and unpaid nights, but we didn't get a visit for the entire show - karma perhaps.

 

The comedian, illusionist, you-name-it - David Copperfield was excellent. He had everyone in the theatre laughing and it was a really great show. I hope I get to see another of his shows before the end of this voyage. After the show we visited Churchill's very briefly 'just for one' and headed to bed around 1am. It was at this point that I stood on the balcony and could see other shipping traffic and land fairly close to us. Captain Wells told us he would be picking up two pilots at around 1am and making the 109nm cruise down the fjord to the town of Flaam. At points, the fjord reaches heights of 1100m from the water level and the depth beneath the keel (the bottom of the ship) in some places is over 1100m too. The width of the fjord is sometimes as narrow as 2nm or 0.5nm where Flaam is - no wonder we need two pilots! The weather was fairly windy and we were only travelling at about 15kts.

 

We are due in Flaam at 8am.

 

More soon.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

ps. North East Girl - I am in the Royal Navy Reserves, I am in the Maritime Trade Operations branch (we deal with the anti-piracy efforts in Somali, etc) :) - Yes, we shall meet on the QM2 next June!

[Ray66]

I've just been watching you leave Flaam on the bridgecam. We loved it there.

 

 

I hope David Copperfield is still on the QE next month for our trip. We saw him on the QV last year and he was really good.

[SailorManBilly]

I'm SO glad you shared this with us!! What a wonderful journey you've had!!

[Fattony]

We are considering taking the Elizabeth to Norway in July (wife was learning towards Emerald Princess from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, but the Norway cruise sounds more scenic, and with better temps, espeically in July). Did your cruise go all the way to Honningsvag? One of my concerns with this cruise was the weather, especially potential for rough seas, but it sounds like you've had calm waters all the way (or you were having such a good time and/or aren't affected by seasickness that you didn't mention them).

 

I did visit Oslo, Flam and Bergen years ago, though not on a cruise, and thought Norway was extremely scenic.

[northernsailor]

Hi everyone,

 

Due to personal reasons I had to unfortunately leave the ship on the turnaround day (I was due on the 5 night cruise immediately after the Fjords one) and therefore I am sorry I didn't manage to give a full update.

 

When time and circumstances allow I will update my blog with the full trip report and details of Queen Elizabeth in Norway and probably post an update on here.

 

Thanks for reading anyway.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[conniedoug]

Hi Chris, Thanks for keeping us up dated on your trip. Are you in the navy? Our son is Fleet Air Arm, currently on duty abroad for 3 months.

 

I see we will get the chance to meet when we are on the QM2 June next year.

 

Catherine and Tony

 

And may God bless your son, Catherine x

[north east girl]

And may God bless your son, Catherine x

Thanks conniedoug, It is a worry, will be glad when he is back in UK. Roll on end of July.

 

Catherine