Queen Elizabeth Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This is my 6th cruise and 6th different cruise line. What sets Cunard apart is a sense of history that you can’t find on other cruise lines. All the wall decorations are paintings of current and past Cunard-White Star ships and old photos and memorabilia. You might want to read a little bit about the history to fully appreciate it. When the ship is in port it’s seems to be more special than just another ship.
The trip was through the Norwegian Fjords - we anticipated dreary weather in port but we lucked out with mostly sunny days with only a few showers.
If you are looking for a ‘party’ atmosphere and towel animals – then the ship is not for you. Our cruise was through the Norwegian fjords – so it wasn’t pool-centric although there were some warmer days. Most of the music piped in the pool area (when there was music) was soothing. The aft bar is a small, mostly walkup bar. The cruise director was low-key, not running around the ship pumping up the passengers. But, there also isn’t the hard sell to buy ‘extras’ that you find on other ships. The ship is on the smaller side, but it never seemed crowded – you can easily find a quiet place to read. One member of our group is a smoker. On other ships we could sit together in a bar at the aft part of the ship, but the smoking areas are not near any bar.
Cabin Review
Balcony
We had a standard balcony cabin that we had 3 adult females in (w/pullout couch). The room was small with more closet space than drawer space. There is one large drawer at the bottom of each bed. The bathroom was very small. There are four small shelves for toiletries. The shower has one small shelf. There are a few US/Europe outlets by the desk. Our group had 3 cabins in a row and we were were able to have all the deck doors between them. The cabin is towards the bow of the ship and one sea day had rough seas - you could hear the waves crashing, but there wasn't much rolling at all.
Port Reviews
Rotterdam
We traveled from Amsterdam to Rotterdam to embark on the ship. Rotterdam is more modern than Amsterdam, but they took the time to make the high-rises architecturally interesting, We only had time to walk across the bridge next to where the ship was docked.
Bergen
Bergen is the 2nd largest city in Norway after Oslo. It was a beautiful sunny day in a normally rainy city - we were told it was the warmest day of the year. We did the hop-on/hop-off bus. We waited in line for the funicular - the line moves quickly. Some of us decided to book a one-way ticket and take the 45 minute walk down. The views from the top are beautiful - there are even resident goats. We weren't in port very long, so felt kind of rushed - there are some hikes and walks you can do that we didn't have time for. If you are in decent shape - the walk down is nice. It zig zags, so isn't particularly steep, but can do a number on your knees. When we got to the lower sections, we were able to take stairs to cutoff some time. We also walked around the Fish Market and the Bryggen area, which had the best shops.
Southampton
Since we boarded in Rotterdam, Southampton was a port day and we didn't have to be onboard until 8:30pm. We had hoped to go into London for the day but were told by the people we met on the ship that there is construction on the Waterloo line which was causing headaches to opted for the nearby city of Winchester for the day. The ship was docked in a commercial port but there is a free bus to a shopping center that runs until 5:45pm. We walked to the central rail station from there and went to Winchester. We took the tour of the Great Hall and Winchester Cathedral - both of which were very nice. The High Street area is nice and we had a late lunch there.