OK so... After Giving QV/QE such a hard time, its only fair to give some proper comments after my enjoyable visit yesterday.
Please note that this comes from the viewpoint of someone who is not interested in cruise ships, or cruising, has a lifelong love for the Clydebuilt Cunard Queens, and a respect for the QM2.
I took 2 friends with me. Both have no interest in ships, or have ever been on a cruise ship - which i always find an interesting counterpoint. They both made the comment to me, whenever i made any criticism of the ship, that "you have awfully high standards for someone who's unemplyed" and I realised they were right. I can't afford to go on any cruise any time soon, so felt honoured just to be on board for a few hours and I am very grateful for the chance to see her.
All of the below comments disregard the fact that she's a cruise ship not an Atlantic liner - i tried to just think of the on board experience, which i think its fair to compare to QE2, because it should be as good or better.
Arriving at Greenock cruise terminal, our view was of most of QV, except the front and back. From this limited angle, I thought she looked very like QM2, but smaller... in fact I didn't really think she looked bigger than QE2 at all even though I know she is higher. I didn't think she looked bad, just not interesting. Row upon row of egg-crate balcones. Just as we were disembarking from the car, QV blew her whistles three long times. I thought she sounded OK - in fact I thought she sounded better than QM2. Then I realised that she had been saluting Waverley which was out of our viewpoint. Waverley responded with three WONDERFUL blasts on her proper steam whistles - even though we couldn't see her, this was still a high point of the day! At this point I was a bit excited - red funnels, whistles, Cunard, friends, even sunshine - all was good! (especially after having a crap time recently).
After lengthy security procedures from disorganised security people which took over 40 minutes, we were welcomed on board by 'flagship' who then gave us a lovely tour for a few hours. Here are some of my reactions.
1) I thought i'd absolutely *hate* the olde-worlde- interior. I was prepared to have to firmly bite my tongue. But for some reason i found it much less off-putting when on board, in fact the whole interior seems more modern in the flesh than it does in photos.
2) Brown! So much so that it upset the 'auto white balance' on my camera.
3) The Plastic decks are just *awful*. Truly dreadful and as far as I can see, unfit for purpose (slippery when wet).
4) She feels no bigger than QE2, in fact she might actually feel slightly smaller.
Passenger corriders felt like those on ferries - very narrow and uninteresting - and the stairways also felt quite steep with shallow steps - although I like the wood veneer and the lots of old ship paintings everywhere.
5) Although far less 'wow' than QM2 inside, she is, I think, nicer. She has that 'cosy' relaxing feel that QE2 had.
6) The Queens Room is a lovely space, and I felt very much felt like the Grand Lounge on QE2. I loved the sofas and tables right by the picture windows starboard side. This would be a lovely place for afternoon tea. It makes QM2's seem simply too big.
7) The winter garden felt like i'd been plunged into a nursing home. I'm not even sure if everybody in this room was still alive.
8 ) The Lido was nice, with nice views, and worked well (and tasted good!).
9) The commodore club is superb - the views were simply stunning here, and I can see it would be a brilliant place to sit for afternoon drinks. I liked Hemispheres too, and the nice corridor space between these rooms.
10) The Lido pool deck area was nice, as was the one outside the winter garden. I was disappointed to learn that the pools aren't seawater though (Michael kindly risked his good suit to check!).
11) I thought the Britannia restaurant looked awful - 80s glitzy gold and mirrors - until Michael explained what the designers had been trying to do with it - they were trying to make it feel like the interiors of a famous 30s railway carriage - i forget the name - he said it was explained in a press release - but its this sort of fact that I love, and can make you love a space. To understand what they were trying to do. I think they need a sign explaining this, and to include an explanation of it on the tour!
As we went around, Michael explained what they were changing on Elizabeth, and it all sounded good. The Yacht Club in particular will be nice, and an excellent place for a TheQE2Story gathering sometime in the future. My friends were absolutely gobsmacked to learn that Elizabeth would be so similar that some rooms would be identical except for different decor.
We all had a really enjoyable time, and I disembarked thinking she'd be a lovely ship to go a cruise on. But I don't do cruise holidays!
I would heartily recommend her to someone who enjoyed cruise holidays on QE2.
Two final things - we stayed to watch her leave. The esplanade was quiet until quite close to 6 when it suddently filled up - i think people knew when she was leaving, and it coincided with the drive home from work.
She reversed her square stern towards us and then spun neatly around. As she was doing this, i could hear comments both from my friends and those around us - of disappointment - she's simply ugly/boring to look at. Simple as that. I also think some sort of optical illusion makes her look, to me, a lot smaller than QE2. The snubby bow, combined with the fragile-looking bridge structure just doesn't inspire confidence.
I just wish she'd not been called a Queen. I can't get over that. And it makes me unfairly feel disappointed in her, when its not her fault. Perhaps she should just have been called 'Victoria' and the new one simply 'Elizabeth'. That might have been nice. And it might be how I refer to them from now on.
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Jan 23, 2022, 12:19 PM