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

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

(Don’t forgot to grab your complimentary map from the table nearby!)

 

 

After much waiting, the shuttle came back. (There were about 3 running at the same time)

 

 

We hopped on

 

 

And made our way to our favourite seats (by the rear door of the bus).

 

[lovely_serenity]

The bus ride took about 10 minutes.

 

Before we got off the bus, we were told to hurry because apparently, all shops closed at 2pm, so we should try to finish our shopping beforehand. We all then filed off the bus.

 

 

To the left, you can see the young couple with a baby. I played with the baby during the shuttle trip :D (Also, it turned out that the father of the baby was actually the star of tonight’s show! Comedy Juggler Goronwy Thom!)

 

 

The bus stopped by this little shop that basically everyone entered:

 

 

 

The shop was full of interesting things! Like birds:

 

 

And catfish:

 

[lovely_serenity]

And many, many sponges that came straight from the ocean!

 

 

After exploring the store, we headed out and began to explore the town. (This restaurant on the right was advertising the fact that they had WiFi LOL).

 

 

 

 

 

As we walked, we came across a castle. Its name according to the Daily Programme was … Castle.

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

While we stood outside it thinking whether or not it was worth the €4.50 entry fee, I spotted something on the floor.

 

 

It was a Diamond Club member’s card! I showed my Dad and put it in my pocket. I was going to give it to the crew members at the gangway, so that Mr. Russell would be able to get back on the ship :D

 

Anyhow, back to the castle. We kind of circled around its exterior while discussing and found the remnants of some sort of mill:

 

 

We eventually decided that just for the sake of photos that Sis and I go in. We went and paid our fees and decided to meet back up at the entrance in about half an hour. Sis and I then made our way into the castle.

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

It had been converted into a museum.

 

 

 

According to a worker, if I took a photo from this exact spot and looked at that wall, I would see a face.

 

 

… Do you see one? Because I certainly don’t LOL.

 

After several attempts, I gave up, pretended I could see the face to satisfy the worker (LOL no I couldn’t) and moved on. We proceeded to check out the upper floor.

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

Up there, we found a REALLY cool hole in the wall that led to the other side of the roof. It made for a really good picture (:

 

 

 

After exploring the whole rooftop

 

 

And taking pictures of the city’s skyline:

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

We quickly got bored and made our way out ^^”

 

 

 

 

After that, we met back with our parents to do a little shopping.

 

 

I found it quite interesting that there were some fake brand name shops just like I had seen in Shanghai. If you’re interested in those kinds of things, here are the 2 main ones:

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

We didn’t find anything we wanted (they weren’t all that cheap either), so we kept walking.

 

 

We found some cute souvenir shops and bought ourselves some stuff. Mom, Sis and I bought some pretty looking fans!

 

 

After we were done shopping, we headed to the beach area that was apparently very popular with the tourists. I saw a cute display on the way:

 

 

On the way to the beach, we checked out a few more stores too.

 

 

 

(Looking back, I should have rented a bike to play with for a bit!!)

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

The beach area was really pretty!! According to my Dad, Limassol was a very popular vacation destination amongst the British!

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

After that, we headed back to the shuttle pick up area and hopped back on. Time for lunch!! :)

 

We climbed the gangway and headed upstairs to our room to drop off all of our new souvenirs and made our way back down to eat. We headed to the Britannia for lunch! Here was today’s menu:

 

 

 

Sis and Mom ordered the same appetizer, the Chilled Fruit Salad with Orange Curacao:

 

 

(Refreshing!)

 

Dad got the Thai Curry Chicken Salad:

 

 

(Which wasn’t bad)

 

And I got the Cream of Mushroom Soup:

 

 

(Mom and Dad said it was much too salty, but Sis and I liked it LOL. It was nice and creamy and evidently was saltier than the normal soup, which we had no problem with ^^ It’s probably due to our childish tastes that can withstand over-salting and over-sweetening :D)

Edited July 30, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Next up were the entrées! Sis got the Balsamic Glazed Salmon with Watercress and Mustard Potato Mash:

 

 

(Which was, as usual, good. Cunard does salmon well)

 

I opted for the Baked Artichoke and Spinach Topped with Poached Egg and Cheese Sauce:

 

 

(THIS. THIS WAS SO GOOD. CREAMY AND DELICIOUS.)

 

Mom got the Tortilla Crusted Sea Bass with New Potatoes:

 

 

(Which wasn’t bad)

 

And Dad got the Spaghetti Carbonara – Creamy Egg Yolk and Parmesan Sauce with Crispy Smoked Bacon:

 

 

(This was very good as well, however, just seemed like yummy cream pasta, not authentic carbonara like we ate in Rome)

 

Since we were going to be snacking some more upstairs, we only ordered one dessert (and thankfully, the best dessert I ate all trip), the Peanut Butter Chocolate Fallen Cake:

 

 

This was SO delicious. It was like a warm chocolate lava cake that was filled with warm peanut butter. BEST DESSERT I ATE ALL TRIP.

 

After that, we rinsed the sugar out of our mouths (as per Mom’s orders) and headed out.

 

 

Note: It seems that Cunard had a high percent chance of making lunch delicious than dinner.

Edited July 30, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

I took a few pictures of the displays in the Atrium as we headed up to the Lido.

 

 

 

When we got up to deck 9, I headed outside to get some city photos while the rest of my family scouted out the food.

 

The only other ship at port seemed to be a Regent ship:

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

The reason Cunard had arranged with the locals to loan us shuttles to take us to the city, was because we were parked at such a remote place, surrounded by warehouse and shipping boxes.

 

 

 

After that, I headed back in and checked out what was for lunch in the buffet:

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

After that, we headed back to the room to rest for a bit.

 

 

At about 3pm, we got ready for afternoon tea. Sis didn’t really care for it, so I just went with Mom and Dad.

 

[lovely_serenity]

We happily ate our cakes and pastries!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And scones!

 

[lovely_serenity]

While we enjoyed to pretty music coming from the EOS String Quartet!

 

 

At this point, we were all so full we were ready to puke. We all agreed that eating a full lunch, a full afternoon tea and full early dinner was too much. We decided that the only way around it was to either change to late seating, or only choose one of the options for tea time (ie. finger sandwich, cakes or the scone).

 

After ahfuta, I went back to the room, rested a bit, got changed and headed to the gym with Sis. We exercised for about half an hour and finished around 5pm. I liked using the punching bag and practicing my taekwondo on it! After working out, we returned to our room, showered and started getting ready for dinner.

 

I ended up taking too long in the shower, so we were 5 minutes late for dinner .____.

 

Anyhow, this was tonight’s dinner menu!

 

 

 

Dinner started out really weird. Our assistant server was being helpful!! 0_0 Well, that didn’t last long anyways, because he ended up ignoring us for the rest of the meal. >_> Something else, it appeared that we had begun getting too friendly with our main server, because his professionalism/proper service belt on us seemed to have loosened. (Although don’t take this as the overall service of the ship. We just had bad luck. All of the other staff around the ship are very helpful and nice & go out of their way for you!)

 

For appetizers, Sis had the Italian Prosciutto and Cantaloupe Melon:

 

 

(Which was just okay)

 

I got the Cold Sesame Noodle Salad from the Royal Spa Selections:

 

 

(which wasn’t bad)

 

And my parents (and I) got the Tempura Prawns on Peppery Radish and Daikon Slaw with Sweet Garlic Dip:

 

 

(Which was actually quite good)

Edited July 30, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

Sarah ~ you're doing a great job! So helpful to those who will take this cruise!:D

 

I can never see the faces or whatever they describe either.:o

 

Guess you're getting excited for your Alaska cruise eh?

Mine is just 25 days away & i know I am.

 

Thanks for this lovely report.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[Seacucumber]

Lovely serenity,

Enjoy reading your post. We will on QM-2 on Next Thursday from Hamburg-Hamburg, this is the 4th Voyage on her.

[Vict0riann]

:D Ha Ha! I saw the face! (In the sort of upside-down V of stone on the wall.)

 

Sarah, I'm sorry you and your family had problems with the DR servers on the QE. I'm hoping to hear that things did improve.

[Scrapnana]

 

]

 

Those cookies and crumbles were my favorite desserts. I always took a couple of extra cookies in case I wanted a midnight snack.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Scrapnana

[lovely_serenity]

HI all!

 

Sarah ~ you're doing a great job! So helpful to those who will take this cruise!:D

 

I can never see the faces or whatever they describe either.:o

 

Guess you're getting excited for your Alaska cruise eh?

Mine is just 25 days away & i know I am.

 

Thanks for this lovely report.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

Hi Jo! :)

 

Thank you very much!! ^^ && I definitely hope so!

 

I know, right? I always have a lot of trouble trying to see those kinds of things!

 

Definitely!! Since I am planning on finishing this report so that I may focus on the next one, get ready for a massive amount of updates in the next few days!! ;)

 

You're very welcome! (:

[lovely_serenity]

Lovely serenity,

Enjoy reading your post. We will on QM-2 on Next Thursday from Hamburg-Hamburg, this is the 4th Voyage on her.

 

I am very happy to hear that! Wow! I hope you have a wonderful vacation! I definitely hope that you will remember to pop back over hear to tell me about it! ;)

[lovely_serenity]

:D Ha Ha! I saw the face! (In the sort of upside-down V of stone on the wall.)

 

Sarah, I'm sorry you and your family had problems with the DR servers on the QE. I'm hoping to hear that things did improve.

 

Oh!! Oh!! I SEE IT NOW!! :eek: Thanks for pointing it out!! I would've never found it on my own :D :D

 

Thanks for the concern! Although thankfully it did get somewhat better in terms of the head server, but ultimately, our assistant server ignored us the whole trip ^^" It didn't make too much of a dent in our vacation, it was just bad luck I guess! All of the other servers in the dining room (ie. at lunch) were fantastic though!

[lovely_serenity]

Those cookies and crumbles were my favorite desserts. I always took a couple of extra cookies in case I wanted a midnight snack.

 

Really? I shall definitely give them a try next time! I'll make my sister eat one as well! :D :D

[lovely_serenity]

Mom got her entrée first, the Roast Duck with Blackberry Sauce, Fondant Potatoes and Mange Tout:

 

 

(Which was quite good)

 

And Dad, Sis and I got the Grilled Sirloin Steak with Red Onion Confit, O’Brien Potatoes and Thyme Infused Cabernet Red Wine Sauce:

 

 

From now on, we decided that we would share the desserts instead of getting too many and over-eating. Sis ordered the Pineapple Upside Down Cakes:

 

 

(Which was just okay)

 

And Mom got the Cappuccino Cheesecake:

 

 

(Which was quite good, but a little strong)

 

And then the petit-fours:

 

 

(Yum.)

 

After dinner, we headed to the Queen’s Room for the 7:45pm show called “An Early Evening with Emily Louise” in which one of the female singers of the Cunard Singers would perform her own little concert for us.

 

 

Very relaxing, she has a lovely voice.