"Live from" Queen Elizabeth to the Mediterannean! My First Cunard Experience

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

We headed back out into the Atrium and I took some more pictures:

 

 

 

 

[P&O SUE]

Hi Sarah,

 

I just found this a couple of days ago and have caught up! Very much enjoying your review.

 

Thank you, looking forward to the rest :)

[caber]

Enjoying all the pictures. We embark in 8 days. :)

[lovely_serenity]

We are flying to Boston to see Fleetwood Mac, Amtrak to New York, then floating back on the QM2.

So we will be heading out then home again!

 

I remember exam time with our two children very well, stressful, as so much can depend on the results..

 

Oohh that sounds great! I hope you have a wonderful time! :)

 

& Haha, yeah they're tiring, but on the bright side, school's almost done! ^^

[lovely_serenity]

love your review!! Keep it up (at your pace)!!!!

 

Thank you!! :)

[lovely_serenity]

Hi Sarah,

 

I just found this a couple of days ago and have caught up! Very much enjoying your review.

 

Thank you, looking forward to the rest :)

 

Hi ! :D

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read it and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[lovely_serenity]

Enjoying all the pictures. We embark in 8 days. :)

 

I'm very happy to hear that! I will update it as much as I can before you embark :D :D

[lovely_serenity]

Outside the Card Room was an area called the Alcove:

 

 

Where there were more games,

 

 

And even puzzles!

 

 

I successfully contributed like 6 or so pieces to the puzzle :D

 

After that, we went back to our room to freshen up a bit. While we were there, I took a few more pictures. Here’s the Room Service Breakfast menu:

 

 

The television guide:

 

 

The commentary sheet:

 

Edited June 5, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

 

As well as a sheet you could fill out if there was a particular staff member that made your trip extra special!

 

 

 

 

Shortly after everyone was ready, we headed to the theater to watch tonight’s show. It first started out with the opening number featuring the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers!

 

 

And then suddenly, something emerged from a green smoke wearing a dark cloak:

 

[lovely_serenity]

It was tonight’s main act! It was Chris Watkins, a young, somewhat arrogant/cocky, yet talented dancers and violinist. He was a little bit awkward at interacting with the audience, but he was still nonetheless very good at the violin:

 

 

After the show, we headed back to the Atrium to listen to some live music. It was more crowded than usual and finding seats proved to be a challenge. Eventually, Sis & I found ourselves a seat at a 2 person table while Mom & Dad found their own seats elsewhere. At this table, I noticed an alcohol menu that some of you might be interested in seeing:

 

 

 

 

 

At about 11pm, we headed upstairs to the lido to check out the Oriental Style buffet they were having.

 

(First some fruit please, I’m parched!)

 

[lovely_serenity]

Dad brought over some of his beloved seafood:

 

 

And Mom brought some random meat (that was pretty good),

 

 

As well as Cunard’s attempt at creating Laska:

 

 

 

Which .. didn’t really work^^’ It didn’t taste quite right. It was good, but it wasn’t Laksa LOL.

 

After our bellies were happy and filled, we waddled back to our cabins and drifted off to sleep. (:

 

 

 

End of Day 4

[lovely_serenity]

Day 5: At Sea

 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013 : Formal

 

 

 

Here was today’s daily programme:

 

 

 

 

 

The “Discover” page:

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

As we were En Route to Israel today, we were given some special documents the night before. One of which was a warning letter telling us to be careful while in the city:

 

 

And another being a notice that informed us that Israeli immigrations officers were now on board and everyone needed to get their entry verified:

 

 

This was precisely why we woke up so early to Mom's call at 7:17am in order to get ready for breakfast prior to the Israeli immigration process. We had awoken to a peacefully calm sea with little to no motion.

 

We headed to the main dining room for breakfast at around 7:30am, but quickly realized that breakfast in the dining room wasn’t going to be open until 8:00am, and the immigration process was going on at 8:30am. We decided we couldn’t wait so long, as we would probably to unable to finish breakfast in half an hour anyhow. We turned around and headed back upstairs to the Lido.

 

I decided to give the pancake/waffle station a try today. Here are the topping options:

 

 

I asked the server for a pancake, and he very cheerfully complied.

 

 

As I was waiting, I saw the man next to me receive a pancake-looking object that looked .. more appealing than my pancake. I asked him, “Uhm, excuse me? But, what’s that?” He promptly answered, “It’s a crêpe!” (0_0!! They have crêpes??) I responded, “Oh! How did you get that?” As he started, “Well just ask the- ..” He then turned to the pancake/waffle man. “Sir, would you mind getting this young lady a crêpe as well?” To which the pancake/waffle man replied, “Of course!” :-) I smiled at the gentleman, “Thank you!” ^^

 

And that my friends is how I got such a big breakfast LOL.

 

Here’s the pancake with some whipped butter and syrup on top:

 

 

And my crêpe with some whipped butter and chocolate sprinkles (to be honest, I didn’t know the pancake/waffle man knew how to make crêpes :P):

 

 

(By the way they were delicious. My opinion, get the crêpe. It’s better)

[lovely_serenity]

Anyways, so while I was getting my breakfast starches made, everyone one else was constructing their own meals.

 

Here was Sis’s meal (Notice the extra hash brown hidden under the other one? Yeah, that one’s mine :D):

 

 

Here was Mom’s meal:

 

 

And here was what Dad ate:

 

 

As we enjoyed our meals, we watched the beautifully calm sea

 

 

I happily drank my apple juice as well:

 

 

After breakfast, we went to do the Israeli immigration inspection. We first had to go back to the room to retrieve one of our key cards left at stateroom. (We need the key card in order to line up to get passports back for the inspection).

 

We then headed to the main dining room during our allotted time:

 

 

This is basically the process: We line up, get a stamp on a piece paper and only get stamp on the passport if you request it (Which we found good, since many countries that don't particularly like Israel and may give you a hard time if they see you have an Israeli stamp on your passport).

 

While we were there, a lady immigration officer got scolded by man in white uniform (Cunard employee). Our assumption was that somebody probably got angry and complained to the ship because she offended him/her (diamond class people went first, perhaps it was one of them). It seemed that the Israeli immigration officer did not understand that this was not Israeli soil, and therefore, she could not be rude to passenger and do whatever she wanted. She was on a Cunard ship, our territory, not land. She should not be offending our passengers.

[lovely_serenity]

Once all that was finished, Mom & Dad headed back to the Lido, while Sis & I went back to our room before returning to the Lido as well.

 

While in at the buffet, I took a few more random photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship while it was still a Sea day. We then made our way toward the Garden Lounge, that would lead us outside:

 

[lovely_serenity]

This was one of the many alcohol displays around the ship.

 

 

 

Ooh look! It’s today’s Drink of the Day!

 

 

I thought it was cute that they had an example one on display (:

 

 

Anyways, we headed outside and climbed up to the open deck so I could take some pictures:

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

While we were wandering around, we came across some people playing this game:

 

 

They told us to try it as well. It’s basically a game where you stand at the designated line and throw your rope-hoop-thing and try to land on the spaces with higher points.

 

I then spotted a staircase that led upstairs to a floor I had never been before:

 

 

I decided that for the sake of this trip report, nobody would mind if I quietly snuck in for a second to take a peek :P So I did LOL

 

Anyways, this is the only shot I have of the private Grill suite private deck area:

 

 

After I scuttled back down, I reunited with my sister who looked at me like I was doing something weird. (which I totally wasn’t! … right?)

 

Well, we decided to give the golf thing a try after watching an older man take a swing at it and do very well.

 

 

Yeah. So it turns out I have zero talent for golf. I missed like .. 5 times and the one time I hit, I hit the tee and not the ball. (Like seriously, right? =_=)

 

After we both agreed that golf was a sport that didn’t like us, we kept moving. As we circled the deck, we discovered the kid’s encased outside playground:

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

We made our way around the entire upper deck to see if there was anything we had not previously discovered.

 

 

 

The location of the shuffle board seemed illogical, as it was in the middle of the walkway and at the foot area of the pool chairs.

 

 

 

Yes! Finally found it!

 

 

We re-entered the building and lo and behold! The restricted Queen & Princess Grill area! :D I looked at Sis and told her I would be back quickly, once I had completed my mission. I was then on my way.

 

I arrived at the top of the stairs and saw an opening into the special lounge that they had.

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

Unfortunately for me, the restaurants were closed and locked for my inconvenience, so I couldn’t get any pictures of them. .___.

 

 

 

Nearby, I could see an interesting viewing deck through a window:

 

 

I then headed back downstairs to meet back up with Sis. (I passed by a man, but pretended I belonged so I wouldn’t seem too suspicious LOL)

[lovely_serenity]

After running around a whole deck, we were a little tired, so we returned to the Lido for a snack:

 

 

 

 

Sis had some Frosted Flakes:

 

 

 

Look! There’s a mirror on the ceiling :D

 

[lovely_serenity]

While we ate, I spotted a ship in the distance outside of our window:

 

 

I can’t really tell, but all I can make out is a single red funnel and a pointed bow. Do you know what ship it could be?

 

Anyhow, we returned to the room to rest for a bit. As we were lying around, we watched this ballet that was playing on the television:

 

 

It was quite lovely (:

 

& I don’t know why, but I took a picture of the painting that was decorating our room:

 

 

Before we knew it, it was lunch time and we had to meet our parents at the dining room. Once we were seated, we were handed our menus:

 

 

 

First up was my order, the Tortilla Soup with Pico de Gallo from the Royal Spa Selections section:

 

 

This wasn’t bad, it was mildly spicy tasted very tomato based.

[Jules.]

I saw the same violinist on my QE May 2013 cruise :)

[lovely_serenity]

Note*: Oops, my mistake :p I accidentally linked you all instead of posting it haha. Well, here are the 2 pictures!

 

Post #544

 

[Salacia]

Look! There’s a mirror on the ceiling :D

 

 

Very artistic photo. Does your parent/s read this thread?

[pepperrn]

Does your parent/s read this thread?

Do your parents read your comments?