Queen Elizabeth Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Embarked smoothly on previous cruise at Ocean terminal and disembarked this one at Mayflower - so anyone who had parked at the port had to have their cars transferred. We had used Airlynx who shuttled us to their car park after we disembarked.
The guests on this cruise were of quite an older average-age (we are early 50's) and so it was quite a subdued atmosphere relative to others, but still very pleasant, and probably due to the fact that is was the pre-Christmas cruise so extremely good value for 12 days and with generous on-board credit that virtually covered our drinks bill.
Dining was excellent, although there were a couple of hiccups with time and table selection. We also ate in the Lido a couple of times and were invited to dine with a couple of the officers one evening. Very entertaining learning about life on the ship.
Cabin Review
Oceanview
Very nice cabin with the best bed/linen/pillows and bathroom I've had from any line.
Bottle of fizz on arrival and kettle in the room, and a flat-screen TV.
Deck 1 is a good location for access to the facilities, mostly happening on deck 2, but we did get a bit of engine rumble. It wouldn't upset me if got this cabin again, but I'd choose higher up next time.
Nothing to really complain about other than the stingy wardrobe space and the poor TV. The wardrobe space depends on the cabin you choose but the TV image and sound quality was dire on most channels - viewable, but not good. And it seemed to vary by channel, so not a problem with the (Samsung) set, but probably the signal.
Apart from the lack of any on-demand features (Cunard seriously lags behind here) the only good movie channel showed its films in German, French, Italian and Japanese, but not English. Given the 80% British contingent, that is a mystery.
Port Reviews
Madeira (Funchal)
Lovely town, weather warm and sunny. Walkable from ship.
The cable car up to Monte was very good and not bad value at 16 euros round trip each.
The CR7 museum is on the front near the port, for those interested. We didn't go in.
La Palma
A pleasant surprise for a small place we didn't know much about. Nice stroll through the small town with lots going on in the streets and interesting shops.
Tenerife
Strangely the worst weather and worst port.
Nothing really of great interest in the town other than plenty of clothes shops and a very big flea market.
Lisbon
Great stop. Nice city with lots of interesting shops. Surprisingly high number of police on patrol and also beggars. Lots of cobbles, so wear comfy shoes.
Ate and drank at the Bear Museum in the main square by the sea.
Walkable if you're fit, otherwise the shuttle drops you off in the town a few blocks from the front.