While Queen Mary 2 heads up to the Autumn Colours of Canada and New England, Queen Elizabeth has just begun her second voyage, this time joining her sister Queen Victoria in the Mediterranean.

Thank you again for all the great feedback from the Blogs on Queen Elizabeth’s maiden voyage, and for those of you who were here with us, I hope you have some very special memories.

When we returned to Southampton on Monday I met a special visitor, as well as receiving news of an exciting development for Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador. All that after this week in Cunard’s history from 22 to 28 October:

While I was in the Ocean terminal on Monday I was delighted to meet quite an amazing young man. Harry Cotterill told me he was a keen follower of the Blog, and that it is his dream to become a Naval Architect. We chatted for a while and he then kindly presented me with an amazing drawing of Queen Mary 2, which I said I would pass on to my colleagues over there to hang perhaps in the Officers’ Wardroom.

Harry told me he had been interested in ship design as long as he could remember, and on Monday he had been invited to come along and have a look at Cunard’s latest Queen. He was shown the bridge and met Captain Chris Wells, and presented his drawing of the Queen Elizabeth to him. Captain Wells was very impressed with Harry’s drawing and told him it would be framed and put on display in the teen centre, The Zone on board for the younger guests to enjoy!

Harry said on his website; “Queen Elizabeth is a remarkable vessel. She combines the elegance and luxury of the golden age of ocean liner travel with the modern technologies of today. It was a great honour to visit Cunard’s newest liner, Queen Elizabeth. I was overwhelmed with her grandeur and elegance. She is a truly fantastic piece of engineering and design”

Earlier that morning Harry had the chance meet with Stephen Payne, Vice President and Chief Naval Architect for Carnival Corporate Shipbuilding, and the man behind Queen Mary 2’s design.

Harry has been in touch with Stephen for a number of years and they have become great friends and I’m sure he found Stephen to be a great inspiration. Thanks for meeting me Harry, and all the best for your future career.
  
Meanwhile I found out this week that there’s a new iPad App available. It’s called Gourmet Live and features a recipe collection from Chef Patron Jean-Marie Zimmermann who is the Cunard’s Global Culinary Ambassador.

Many of you will know Jean Marie from a Blog featuring him last year, but in case you missed it, here is the link:

http://wearecunard.com/2009/12/meet-cunard%e2%80%99s-culinary-ambassador-%e2%80%93-jean-marie-zimmermann/

Jean-Marie Zimmermann was filmed recently on board Queen Elizabeth while at work in the galley.

Amongst his numerous accomplishments, Jean-Marie has created the menus and inspiration for the new Verandah restaurant on Queen Elizabeth, which after just one voyage is already a big hit with our guests.

It was while he was setting up and putting the final touches on Cunard’s newest dining venue, that filming took place. He was seen in the main galley as well as in the restaurant itself.

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The innovative App and digital content experience comes from Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications which operates in 25 countries. In the United States, Condé Nast publishes 18 consumer magazines, two trade publications and 27 websites that garner international acclaim.

The Gourmet Live App lets users express, share and explore their passion for every aspect of food and food culture in a brand new way, utilising social networks and innovative gaming tools to serve content that will ultimately create a personalised experience.

Gourmet Live, which is free to download, is full of brand new and classic stories, recipes, videos, slideshows, and more. Content is organised by hot topics and relevant themes and is engaging and entertaining. Amongst the recipes I can definitely recommend the video tutorial and recipe for Chef Zimmermann’s famous Pepper Steak with Homemade Parmesan Chips; it’s really superb.

Users who do not have an iPad can find highlights of Gourmet Live content on the blog at http://live.gourmet.com and can sign up for Gourmet Live alerts and news.

Robert Howie, Queen Elizabeth’s Hotel Manager said: “It is a fantastic opportunity to have Jean-Marie involved with this application, his skills as a Chef and Cunard’s ‘Chef Patron’ are highlighted and I am sure that his charisma coupled with his culinary skills will be not only an education but also entertaining to those using it. It also emphasises Cunard’s commitment to new technology and providing the most up to date technological education to our guests and crew. Our iStudy programme, where our guests learn about Apple technology, as well as the use of Apple computers within the Hotel operation on board Queen Elizabeth and the Gourmet Live application on the iPad, prove our willingness to advance in this field.”
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Congratulations Jean-Marie and we hope our Bloggers get the opportunity to enjoy your recipes in a whole new way. That’s it for this post but I’ll be back on Monday with Queen Victoria’s Latest Star of the Month as well as some more stories from Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth during the week. Cheers for now, Alastair

Welcome to the final Blog from Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage, but don’t worry this Blog will continue to follow our new Cunarder throughout her career, along with her sisters of course.

It was such a pleasure to meet so many Bloggers on the Maiden Voyage and thank you for your comments you’ve posted already. I met many guests with a huge amount of Cunard experience and I sat down and chatted with as many as I could, as it was fascinating to hear their stories and experiences.

Amongst those I spoke to were guests who had worked on the Queens such as Steve Saunders, whose job was to raise and lower the Ensign each day on the original Queen Elizabeth. It was a special moment as he was invited to repeat that experience as sunset approached during our stay in Madeira. Before the ceremony he showed me his picture in his original Seaman’s Book, which Captain Wells later signed for him.

It was quite a moment as Third Officer David Johnson invited him to lower the Ensign, as it was 46 years since he had last performed the task.

With the Ensign safely lowered, it had to be folded in the correct way, and retired Seaman Saunders remembered very clearly how that should be done.

Mr Saunders couldn’t have been more proud as he stood for the final pose wearing his original Seaman’s Cap, which he later donated to the Bridge Officers; a generous offer on a wonderful occasion.

I enjoyed looking at some amazing memorabilia including some from Queen Elizabeth’s Transatlantic Crossing on 15 September 1960, shown to me by Mrs Margaret Hummel, who was on the latest Queen Elizabeth celebrating her birthday, 50 years after that memorable voyage. She was on the crossing to New York which was carrying many World Leaders and Ambassadors to the United Nations Conference, and this is just one of the beautiful menus from the First Class Restaurant.

Margaret was just 17 when she crossed with her father, who was a scientist taking up the Hunsker Chair at MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She collected many signatures and kept some remarkable souvenirs from the trip which I found fascinating.
 

There were so many people with so many memories that we decided to hold a Three Queen Elizabeth’s Meeting, hoping there were some guest on board who had travelled on all three. It was incredible to meet 16 guests who had that claim to fame, so we are going to make it a regular feature on every voyage on Queen Elizabeth. This is the group who were at the meeting that day.

We then thought it would be fun to see if anyone had actually travelled on all six Cunard Queens, and were delighted to hear that in fact three had.
 

They all had a story to tell such as Michael Campbell, pictured on the left of the photo, who first travelled on Queen Elizabeth in 1947 as a baby. His parents lived in London, but also had a factory in Holland and a summer estate in Newport Rhode Island in the United States.  He showed me a Daily Programme from that period with this entry:

What an amazing way to change the clocks; needless to say it’s a lot simpler these days! Then there was Richard Smith, pictured on the right, who asked me if I knew how many Captains were Masters of both Queen Elizabeth and QE2. He told me that there were just three, and one of them was his father, Captain George E. Smith, who was the last but one Captain on the Queen Elizabeth and the second on QE2.  He has subsequently been on the Maiden Voyages of all three current Queens. Richard is now a retired senior partner of a law firm and lives in Southampton, close to his roots. He has been a regular on QE2 and Queen Mary 2 but says he still feels like a little boy each time he comes on board; what a great story.

The third guest to travel all six Queens was Lesley Melrose who first travelled on Queen Elizabeth in 1951 as a very young girl. She was visiting her Aunt, who was a GI Bride who had settled in New Orleans, though it took another two days by train from New York to get there!  She was on one of the farewell voyages of Queen Elizabeth in 1968, when she returned to America as a student, working as a secretary. She travelled third class and shared a cabin with three other girls who she hadn’t met, with a communal bathroom down the corridor! She remembered how they were allowed on a tour of the first class areas, but this was tightly controlled. Back on the lower decks here she is at dinner meeting new friends. She is the third from the left:

A year later, to celebrate her 21st birthday, Lesley was on QE2 for the Maiden Transatlantic Crossing and she has her original ticket to prove it. Now living in Solihull in the West Midlands, she has had it signed by many Captains who she told me, all ask the same question; how much did she pay?

In case you couldn’t read it, the price was just £129.00 and here she is celebrating the crossing with her mother in the height of 60’s fashion!

There were so many more stories to share, such as previous officers and crew of the Queens, including Robin Oliver who worked in the engine room of Queen Elizabeth on the last crossing to New York in 1968. I’ll post more stories again soon, but I’m going to leave you with one fantastic story that I’ll be dining out on for years. It was a real pleasure to meet Terry Smith.

Terry told me how he was a lookout on Queen Elizabeth back in 1964. In those days the lookouts were positioned way up in what was called the Crows Nest, with a perfect view over the ocean. It was a lovely clear night which passed without incident. The following morning back in the mess room his colleagues were saying what a great view they had of Queen Mary passing in the middle of the night,  to which Terry replied; “We passed Queen Mary last night?”. Yes it took him a while to admit it, but he fell asleep and missed everything! Another great story; thanks Terry.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a special post about a special new series featuring Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador, Jean Marie Zimmermann, and again next week with news of Queen Victoria’s latest Star. But before I go I wanted to post one more special photo of Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage. Cunard is always proud of its White Star Service, delivered by the amazing crew on board all our ships. Bringing out a new ship is never a simple task, but the team on Queen Elizabeth have done an incredible job to bring the latest Queen in to service so smoothly.

While the ship was making her way to Southampton at the beginning of the month our Chief Photographer, Petar Pecanac, arranged and took a stunning picture of Queen Elizabeth’s Inaugural crew and we thought we would share this with you on this last Blog of her Maiden Voyage.

Congratulations Petar, on a fantastic picture. I’ll be back tomorrow, in the meantime, cheers for now, Alastair

Welcome to another Blog and part three of Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage and I already realise I am going to have to write another, as there is so much more to tell you. As I am writing this we are having another remarkably smooth crossing of the Bay of Biscay heading back to Southampton.

Before I get to what’s been happening these last few days, you may be interested to hear about a special Television Programme that’s been made about Queen Elizabeth. It’s called “Britain’s Greatest Ships: The Queen Elizabeth” and has been made by the Discovery Channel. The programme is a new one-off and gives exclusive access to the construction of what the makers say will be one of the world’s greatest liners. I’m afraid I don’t know when it will air around the world, but it will be broadcast in the UK on Wednesday 27 October, at 9.00pm. The programme will also feature unique archive film of the building of the first Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary along with interviews with former Cunard Captains.

It’s been such a pleasure to meet so many of you on this Maiden Voyage, who have been reading this Blog and as promised I will be keeping you up to date in the future, from all three Cunard Queens. It’s been great to get your feedback and I hope you enjoy reading these Blogs as a memory of a wonderful Maiden Voyage on Queen Elizabeth.

The weather had been fantastic, well apart from just one day; Madeira, when there was torrential rain throughout the day, but guests managed to make the most of the visit, and they enjoyed the traditional dancing by a local Folkloric Group in the Grand Lobby that afternoon.

During the day, there was eager anticipation as our celebrity Entertainer arrived mid afternoon. Lulu, embarked with her team of fifteen musicians, backing singers sound and lighting engineers, along with a special surprise guest who I’ll tell you more about later.

Lulu’s name is synonymous with rock and blues, ever since she first burst onto the scene at the tender age of 15, with the mega, definitive and enduring Shout., which she performed that night to an incredible response. It was amazing to see the song performed live by the original artist and with such energy, despite as she told everyone in the audience, being 61 years old.  She looked stunning and it was only later I saw that she has her own anti-ageing skin and body care collection; well it certainly seems to work!

Lulu performed her show twice that evening and what performances they were; the Royal Court theatre certainly rocked that night!  A personal favourite part was when she introduced her special guest, Kiki Dee who joined her in the duet, Don’t go Breaking My Heart. It was one of the first records I ever bought, and to see Lulu dressed in Elton John glasses and straw hat opposite the amazing voice of Kiki Dee was just brilliant.

In between shows Captain Wells invited Lulu and Kiki Dee to the bridge, to sign the visitor’s book and meet some of the ship’s Officers and crew, and Lulu loved sitting in the famous Queen Elizabeth Captain’s chair.

Despite another performance just twenty minutes later, she chatted with everyone and certainly charmed Captain Wells as Hotel Manager Robert Howie looked on!

It was a rush after the show as Lulu and her team disembarked just before Queen Elizabeth sailed for Southampton. Everything went very smoothly with many guests looking over the promenade deck and balcony railings wishing her farewell. She told me how much she enjoyed the whole event and even sung as she went down the gangway, much to the delight of the guests watching.

The following night there was another premiere from the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Company as the four singers from the company were joined by the combined orchestras from the Royal Court Theatre, the Queens Room, the Sting Quartet and resident Harpist. The show is called Sing and it’s a wonderfully elegant show with great music and a stunning set:

As we headed north towards Southampton, it was time to catch up with our guests and I heard so many fascinating tales from some very experienced Cunarders, the next Blog on Wednesday will feature some of their many stories.

One story I heard about, but only believed when I saw the photo, was that half way across the Bay of Biscay, an owl was seen to be perched on a chair on Graham and Anne Hanson’s balcony. What an incredible picture:

One couple you know about already from the last post was Jim McCracken and Lisa Lehman, who got engaged on board. Jim, who is the Mayor of Freedom Township in New Jersey, wanted to present a proclamation from his home city, so in recognition of their engagement and to receive the proclamation, Captain Wells invited Jim and Lisa to the bridge to blow the ship’s whistle at noon.

Romance is clearly in the air, as I was also contacted by another gentleman who wanted to make his proposal rather special as well. So, working with the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager, Anton Nootenboom, a special breakfast tray was prepared and sent to their stateroom. I met with them a couple of days ago and they told me the story.

Apparently Adrian Holloway first met Julie Shakespeare twenty years ago, but at the time she was married so despite being friends they eventually lost contact. The couple, from Bournemouth in England, were reunited three years ago when Julie’s situation had changed and she sent Adrian a Christmas card.

Adrian has been on the maiden Voyages of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria and is delighted that Julie is also now a convert to Cunard. On the day of the proposal, just moments before the tray arrived, Adrian asked Julie if she would join him on the balcony where he went on one knee and asked her to marry him. She of course said yes, and although they haven’t fixed a date yet for the wedding, seeing them the other day they were still beaming from ear to ear!

Another very special guest for the Maiden Voyage was a lady who is known in the art world as the face of Modern Impressionism. Sherree Valentine Daines has painted numerous famous people, from Joanna Lumley to Michael Parkinson to Jonny Wilkinson. She was also recently seen on Britain’s This Morning TV show painting the host, Fern Britton. She has had exhibitions in London’s Tate gallery, the Barbican and her pieces have been popular with celebrity collectors including the Royal Family.
During her time on board she was very busy discussing her work with guests along with painting demonstrations like the one here in the Grand Lobby, which featured the naming ceremony, accompanied by her daughter Lettice playing the violin.

It was amazing to watch her at work. Although she told us she would normally take more time to create one of her stunning paintings, she achieved this completed piece in literally a few hours.

Later in the voyage she had a special subject to paint, which again she did in front of an audience in the Garden Lounge. Captain Wells chatted to guests and Sherree as she painted him and then revealed the finished piece in the Art gallery on the last day.

As many of you know, we auction off the ship’s nautical chart at the end of every voyage, and we knew the chart for Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage, signed by the Captain and Bridge Officers, was going to generate a lot of interest. It certainly did, and the atmosphere in the Queens Room that afternoon was electric, as the bidding got higher and higher. The hammer went down for the final time at $4,000 and the happy couple taking away this unique souvenir of the voyage, was Graham and Peggy Tamblyn from Melbourne in Australia. They told me they were actually married while on a QE2 voyage in 2007, when they went ashore in Gibraltar for the actual service and this was their anniversary voyage.

As with all our Nautical Chart Auctions, the money raised goes to the Prince’s Trust, so thank you to Graham and Peggy for helping us to raise even more money for this very worthwhile charity. 

Talking of souvenirs, guests have been very busy picking up memorabilia from books to cards to T Shirts to keeping all the menus and Daily Programmes to remember this special voyage. Captain Wells was inundated a couple of days ago, when he was autographing everything you could mention, and at the front of the long queue was eleven year old Emma Savage from Nottingham England.

Another premiere that took place this voyage featured the five actors and two singers from the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Company accompanied by our String Quartet. In a special one hour adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the cast brought together numerous characters, with some very quick changes, in a beautifully presented performance.  Here they are in full flow:

Well that’s about it for the moment, but I’ll bring you the final instalment of our Maiden Voyage on Wednesday and on Thursday a special Blog featuring Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador, Jean Marie Zimmerman. Thanks again so much for all your comments; cheers for now, Alastair

With Queen Elizabeth making her way back to Southampton on the last stage of her Maiden Voyage, Queen Victoria is in the Mediterranean and Queen Mary 2 is heading to New York. For this Blog we are going back to a recent voyage on Cunard’s flagship with a Guest Blog from Author and Cunard Maritime Lecturer, Chris Frame.

Many of you will know Chris as a true Cunarder, from his lectures on board, previous Guest Blogs as well as his wonderful series of Photographic journey books on QE2, Queen Mary 2 and most recently Queen Victoria. It’s always interesting to get a different perspective of a voyage so I’ll hand over to Chris:-

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  Guest Blog
      
  Chris Frame

   Author and Cunard Maritime Lecturer

The Mediterranean Medley was particularly special, being the only opportunity this year to experience the Med aboard the world’s largest ocean liner. I was there to give a series of lectures about the history of Cunard Line. I was fortunate to be travelling on the same voyage as some family members, so had the opportunity to spend time with them aboard.
 
Having been aboard Queen Mary 2 before, it was easy to slip back into shipboard life and by the time we slipped our lines I was unpacked and ready for the voyage ahead.
 
Upon arrival aboard the ship, guest lecturers are presented with their schedules. My first lecture was on the first sea day, at 3:30pm. After the long flight from Australia I appreciated the opportunity to ease into the first day at sea. Breakfast in bed was a luxurious way to do this.
 
We had three days at sea between Southampton and our first port of call, Barcelona. This allowed the guests to get familiar with the ship. Illuminations is Queen Mary 2’s planetarium, however it is also the venue for the lectures and fortunately it is very easy to locate at the forward end of Deck Three.
 
“Cunard: The Early Years” was the title of my first lecture. It details the history of Cunard Line from Samuel Cunard’s early ventures in Steam Technology and the formation of the company, right through to the era of the giant four-stackers, Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania.
 
The Commodore’s Cocktail Party was the highlight of that evening, with guests dressing in their formal wear to meet Commodore Bernard Warner. With champagne flowing, the Commodore discussed the significance of September 20th, being the date that both the original Mauretania and the legendary QE2 were launched, one on the Tyne in 1906 and the other on the Clyde in 1967.
 
Day Two at sea and my next lecture “The White Star Liners”. The lecture started at 10am and despite the early start there was a good show of guests wanting to learn the full story of the company that was responsible for some of the most famous ships of all time.
 
On Day Three at sea I attended lectures by some of the other guest speakers. Ian Smith was talking about the history of the iconic Concorde, the only successful supersonic passenger transport. Later in the day, Biologist Brian J. Ford discussed Facebook. Both were very interesting lectures and well attended.
 
I took the opportunity to catch up with my family in the Golden Lion pub for lunch, where a traditional pub menu is offered. I chose fish and chips with a pint of Bass which I enjoyed very much.

That evening, the Big Band Ball was held in the Queens Room. With the largest dance floor at sea, it was a perfect location for dancing to the Big Band music provided by the expert Queens Room Orchestra combined with the Royal Court Orchestra.
 
On Day Four we were docked in Barcelona which is a fascinating city; lively, vibrant and energetic. The shore tour took us to the highlights of the city such as the Cathedral, through the city streets and past the iconic Sagrada Família before returning us to the ship in time for lunch.
 
My brother-in-law and I wanted to return to the Sagrada Família to see inside the structure. Fortunately Queen Mary 2 wasn’t departing until midnight so we had time to return on foot (a very long walk) and made our way to the viewing area atop one of the spires. The views are magnificent.

The walk back was slower than the walk there, the city is huge, and our return trip included a stop at an ice cream shop for some sustenance.
 
The next morning was a half day at sea, en route to Monte Carlo. I talked at 11:15am about the “Evolution of the Passenger Ship” which covers the changes that have occurred to passenger ships from the early days of steam, right up to modern cruise ships.
 
Queen Mary 2 anchored at Monte Carlo among what seemed to be hundreds of luxury yachts. I enjoyed the tender service, rarely are you afforded such a superb photo opportunity of the ship, and so my camera was in constant use during the short 10 minute journey to the inner harbour.

Once ashore, we made our way up to the Palace and were afforded more spectacular views of the ship, this time from above. A leisurely walk back down towards the city centre was followed by some window shopping at Ferrari while others took the opportunity to visit the iconic Casino and the nearby Grand Prix tracks.

 
With our anchor raised we set a course for Civitavecchia and Rome, which was to be the highlight for me. Rome has so much history; I will be returning as you can’t absorb it all in one day. Still, the shore tour we took to Rome was a brilliant introduction to the city. It was a walking tour and visited such iconic structures as the Trevi Fountain, The Colosseum, The Pantheon, The Forum and views of many other iconic ancient Roman buildings.

Queen Mary 2 shared the port of Civitavecchia with her Fleet Mate, Queen Victoria, who would also join us the following day in Naples. After sailing behind Queen Victoria for much of the night, we docked first in Naples and it was off to Pompeii.
 
Pompeii was buried during the eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Much of it excavated, the ancient city provides a fascinating insight into life nearly two millennia ago. Preserved under the ash, treasures include original lead plumbing, ancient graffiti, roads, drains, dwellings, prisons and amphitheatres.  All those on our tour agreed that this fascinating place was one of the highlights of the voyage.

 
That evening Queen Mary 2 sailed before Queen Victoria. The two ships exchanged lengthy whistle blasts as we departed. Seeing the two Cunarders together was a great bonus for all of us!

En route to Gibraltar I had lunch with my family at Todd English. I’d never done this before and let me just say it was superb. The service was outstanding and the food was nothing less than a masterpiece. While the whole meal was delicious, the dessert was the stand out course. I had the superb White-Chocolate Fallen Cake with Chocolate Mouse, Raspberry Ice Cream and Berries.

The lecture during that day was by destination and food lecturer Angela Schneider who spoke about “Lisbon, the city that spice built” in anticipation for our final port of call.

Gibraltar was a fascinating stop. We tendered ashore and were taken up the rock to see the caves, gun forts and then went even higher via the cable-car to take in the spectacular view. Queen Mary 2 made for a superb photo opportunity in the harbour.

Lisbon (Lisboa) was our final port of call. A fascinating city, the harbour makes for a superb backdrop for the magnificent Queen Mary 2. Our tour included a tram ride on the classic Lisboa trams. Aboard the trams we were treated to traditional food and drinks while commentary was provided by our tour guide. It was a great morning!

Queen Mary 2 sailed for Southampton that afternoon. The ship manoeuvred away from the pier and set a course to pass under the middle of the ‘25 de Abril Bridge’ with only 4-metres to spare!

On our final day at sea at 10am in Illuminations, I told the story of the legendary Queen Mary (1936) and Queen Elizabeth (1940), including their construction, service during World War 2 and eventual decline in the 1960’s. The original Queens were succeeded by QE2 and later that day at 2pm I attended the lecturer meet-and-greet session where many guests shared their stories about their experiences on these three Queens.
 
By 7am the following day we were back alongside in Southampton. It had been a wonderful voyage aboard the world’s last Atlantic Ocean liner. With this memorable voyage over, I am now looking forward to being aboard the latest Cunarder, Queen Elizabeth in 2011!

Thanks Alastair!

Chris.

Thank you very much Chris for a great Blog and superb pictures. We look forward to welcoming you aboard our new Queen next year. Meanwhile I’ll be back on Monday with the third and final Blog from Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage. Then later in the week we’ll have some news from our other sister, Queen Victoria. Cheers for now, Alastair

Welcome to part two of our special Blog from Queen Elizabeth, on her Maiden Voyage to the Canaries. Thank you again for all your comments; it’s great to hear from you as always. Many of you have mentioned the Bridge Cam, so we have passed this on to our IT team who are working hard to get the location details up on the screen as soon as they can.

Today we will be in Madeira which is always a favourite port, but is particularly special this time, as we are very excited about welcoming Lulu to Queen Elizabeth to perform in the Royal Court Theatre tonight. I’ll tell you what else has been happening over the last few days after our regular feature; this week in Cunard’s History for the week of 15 to 21 October:

Back on board Queen Elizabeth, there was a tremendous response to Sir David Frost’s lecture, and he was kind enough to do a follow up interview with me on the Morning TV show, where he shared some more fantastic stories. He is such an engaging speaker; I could have chatted to him for hours and it was certainly an honour to interview a man who has interviewed over 4,000 people.

On the evening before Sir David and Lady Carina Frost disembarked, Captain Wells invited them to join him on the bridge for the sail away. While there Captain Wells invited Sir David to be the second person to sign the visitor’s book, after Her Majesty the Queen.

Every port we have visited, on this Maiden Voyage, has given us a tremendous welcome such as fire tugs guiding Queen Elizabeth to her berth with huge sprays of water. There has been a lot of excitement from the various region’s press and media as well as locals.

Each time a ship visits a port for the first time, it is traditional to invite the local Port Authorities and Dignitaries to a Plaque Exchange ceremony. The press are also invited so it’s quite an occasion.

The ceremony begins with me inviting the Captain to say a few words of formal welcome to the guests. Then the various associations, agencies and VIP’s from the port present their plaques to the Captain, which will eventually be placed in a special area outside the Commodore Club for guests to see.

The Captain then responds with a specially designed plaque from Queen Elizabeth, to commemorate the ship’s maiden call.

Then in each port we have visited, the press and media have conducted interviews with Queen Elizabeth’s first Master, whose secretary, Eli Iniesta was fortunately on hand to translate into Spanish.

There has also been a special send off from each port as well, with many fascinated locals and tourists watching the proceedings from the shore side. This is the view from Queen Elizabeth looking across the harbour and Santa Cruz in Tenerife.

We were treated to a wonderful parade of classic cars in Gran Canaria, and in Santa Cruz, there was a special display from soldiers in traditional uniform presenting arms to our guests looking from the decks and stateroom balconies.

Mind you I think we were all slightly taken aback when they actually fired their muskets which let out a huge bang!

Back on board in the evenings we have been presenting a new show in the Royal Court Theatre each night and it’s been great to try a few new ideas such as jazz nights in the Garden Lounge which have worked out really well.

We have also held our first Cunard World Club party, but as we have nearly 1,400 Gold, Platinum and Diamond members, we will be hosting three parties! Our Cunard World Club representatives on board, Rebecca de Reus and Wendi Hardy added up all the years our members have sailed, and if you put them all together it would add up to over ten thousand voyages totalling 365 years. That’s a lot of experience and as Captain Wells said in his speech, it also represents tremendous loyalty, for which all of us at Cunard are extremely grateful.

During his speech Captain Wells also showed the guests something rather special. He told them that the gentleman responsible for the logistics at the Naming Ceremony, had given him a special gift; the button pressed by her Majesty to release the jeroboam of Cunard Graves, Baron Philippe de Rothchild 2009 against Queen Elizabeth’s hull.

He then passed the mounted wooden button around the Queens Room for guests to look at. It was a perfect photo opportunity for guests like Mrs Patricia Pavaro from Cheshire, who was on the Farewell Voyage of QE2, the Maiden Voyage of Queen Mary 2 and the Maiden World Voyage of Queen Victoria.

Then it was time to announce the most travelled guest on board this Maiden Voyage. As I think I mentioned last week, that accolade was awarded to one of the very first guests to board Queen Elizabeth, Dr Doris Lorz from Springfield, Missouri in the United States. By the end of this voyage Dr Lorz will have completed a staggering 2,786 days (120 voyages) with Cunard, and here she is receiving her award from Captain Wells with Rebecca and Wendi.

96 year old, Dr Lorz is originally from New York and is a Doctor of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry as well as a Professor Emeritus of Missouri State University. She told me that her first voyage with Cunard was on the Cunard Princess in 1979, and the picture of that ship is amongst the many Cunard ships of the past, on Queen Elizabeth’s A Staircase:

Dr Lorz said her first time on QE2 was in 1985 when she was celebrating her 50th Wedding Anniversary. She told me she was married just before her 21st birthday, and in those days she had to have permission from her father as she was under 21 years old!

On board QE2 in 1998 she took up dancing, and says she hasn’t stopped since, adding “It’s what I live for”. Every night she dances in her favourite venue, the Queens Room, and here she is with Thomas Quinones on the dance floor.

There’s so much more to tell you about Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage, that I’ll be back with the third and final part next week. In the meantime I’ll be back tomorrow with a great Guest Blog from our flagship, Queen Mary 2.  Cheers for now, Alastair

Welcome to a special Blog from Queen Elizabeth on her Maiden Voyage to the Canaries, retracing QE2’s Maiden Voyage in April 1969. It’s been a great start to our new Queen’s career with wonderful weather so far on our thirteen day voyage.

There are numerous firsts on a Maiden Voyage and it has been so much fun meeting up with so many experienced Cunarders and hearing about their memories of previous Queens. In fact we’ll be having a get-together later in the voyage for guests who have been on all three Elizabeth’s, so that should be fascinating. 

I’ve also been meeting many guests who have been following this Blog throughout the new build process, and it’s been wonderful to hear their feedback first hand; thank you so much again for following us, and for your kind comments.

Before I tell you more about what’s been happening on this Maiden Voyage, I just wanted to go back to that unforgettable sail away from Southampton last Tuesday. I was delighted to receive this photo from John Hargreaves, who was kind enough to send it to our head office in Southampton.

I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a stunning picture, which was taken from Calshot Spit, where John Hargreaves said there were hundreds of people watching, filming and photographing the latest addition to the Cunard Fleet.

We were blessed with a smooth crossing of the Bay of Biscay, to reach our first port of call, Vigo. There was a wonderful reception from the Spanish press and media as well as the port authority who had arranged some local entertainment for our guests on the pier.

There are so many reasons to celebrate on a Maiden Voyage and I know many of our guests are enjoying a double celebration with anniversaries and birthdays. One guest was celebrating her 80th birthday and that was our Madrina, Dennie Farmer, who hosted the first cocktail party in the Garden Lounge, and here she is with Captain Chris Wells.

Lisbon is always a favourite port of call for our guests and crew, and sailing under the “25 de Abril” Bridge is always impressive. Here’s Queen Elizabeth at her berth next to the bridge.

The bridge itself a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tejo river. Because of its similar colouring, it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and is the 20th largest suspension bridge in the world. I managed to get this great photo of the bridge as we passed under it later that afternoon.

After we left the Spanish port of Cadiz, it was a special night for the new Queen Elizabeth Theatre Company as they performed the premiere of “A Slice Of Saturday Night”. Although it had been previewed in Southampton, this was the first time they had performed the show for a full audience of Cunard guests. The response to the specially adapted original West End show written the Heather Brothers was wonderful, and the full cast of twelve dancers, four singers, five actors and five musicians did a fantastic job to a delighted audience. Here they are in between performances.

The Theatre Boxes were packed that night, but in box number six this was going to be an even more special evening. A few months ago I had been contacted by a travel agent in the United States to see if we could help a gentleman with a special request. It turned out that Jim McCracken, who is the Mayor of Freedom Township in New Jersey, wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Lisa Lehman from Lancaster Pennsylvania, during the voyage.

We of course were delighted to play our part, so I met with Jim to chat about how this could be done. We booked them in to the Verandah Restaurant and then reserved a Theatre Box for them later that evening. Jim told me that they had met at a healthcare conference in New Orleans, when by chance they were partnered up in a group leadership class. They had been told that part of the exercise was to look in each other’s eyes for fifteen seconds. They both told me later that it was definitely love at first sight, so Jim wanted to recreate the moment as part of his proposal.

As the performance in the Theatre came to an end, Jim asked Lisa to look in to his eyes for fifteen seconds at which point he went on one knee asking her to marry him. She told me the next day she just wanted to scream with excitement at that moment; of course she said yes!

I caught up with them over a drink in the Midships Bar the following night, when they told me all about their evening and of course I had to take a photo to mark the occasion!

This was taken on the stairs in the Grand Lobby, and by chance right behind Jim and Lisa is Fifi, the Maitre d’ of the Verandah, who helped make the evening so special for them. They have their first job as a couple this Friday as they have been asked to witness the Renewal of Vows Ceremony, of a couple at their dinner table!

As for the wedding date, they reckon in about a year’s time and needless to say I asked them to stay in touch. So Jim and Lisa, on behalf of us all on Queen Elizabeth, we wish you every happiness and thank you so much for sharing your story with us. And what a great story; the first marriage proposal on board Queen Elizabeth.

There are so many events to talk about, so I’ll be doing this post in two parts, but I do have to mention a special guest speaker who was part of the Cunard Insights Programme for this Maiden Voyage. Sir David Frost and his wife Lady Carina Frost arrived in Cadiz, it was a real pleasure to welcome a man aboard who is without doubt a Broadcasting Icon.

Sir David Frost’s career has been so diverse that he has been described as a “One man conglomerate”. From being the host and co-creator of That Was the Week That Was, he has been the producer of countless television programmes and eight films. In addition to being the author of 17 books he is a lecturer, publisher, impresario and the joint founder of London Weekend Television and TV-am. But most of all he is probably the best known television interviewer in the world. 

Sir David’s Nixon Interviews achieved “the largest audience for a news interview in history” (New York Times). Peter Morgan’s play, Frost/Nixon, achieved great success in London and on Broadway, and more recently Ron Howard’s highly-acclaimed motion picture adaptation of Frost/Nixon in 2008 garnered 5 Oscar nominations.

Landmark interviews have always been a feature of Sir David’s remarkable career and among the many world figures he has interviewed are the seven most recent British Prime Ministers, the seven most recent Presidents of the United States as well as other world leaders including Nelson Mandela and President Putin. In all he has conducted over 4,000 interviews with luminaries from all walks of life from Royalty to prominent individuals such as Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, Noel Coward, Woody Allen, Muhammad Ali and the Beatles.

Sir David has been awarded all the major television awards and in 1993 was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen. In 2005, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship, their highest honour.

Yesterday the Royal Court theatre was packed with guests waiting to hear Sir David’s lecture Interviews I Shall Never Forget. It was a real privilege to introduce him and then to hear his insightful and hilarious anecdotes delivered in that unique Sir David Frost style which the audience absolutely loved.

There are too many stories to mention here but one I particularly enjoyed was the one where responding to an audience member’s question about people Sir David hadn’t interviewed, but would have liked to, he recalled the time Sir Dennis Thatcher was accompanying the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher to a Presidential Dinner at the White House. Sir Dennis, who rarely spoke in public, was put on the spot when the first lady, Barbara Bush, spoke (after the President and Mrs Thatcher), to which Sir Dennis was obliged to respond. So apparently he rose to his feet and was heard to say ‘As Julius Caesar said to Cleopatra as he opened the entrance to her tent, “I haven’t come here to talk”’. What a wonderful quote and just one of Sir David’s great stories.  Here he is pictured in full flow on the Royal Court Theatre stage;

That’s it for the moment, but I’ve lots more to share with you later in the week. I’ll be back soon, with a great Guest Blog from our flagship, Queen Mary 2 and of course more news from Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage. Cheers for now, Alastair

As Queen Mary 2 heads back to Southampton on her Transatlantic Crossing and Queen Victoria enjoys the Southern Mediterranean, what an incredible few days we have had on board Queen Elizabeth, as we celebrated the huge build up towards her naming and then the sail away on her Maiden Voyage.

Thank you again for all the comments on the Blog and in person. I have met so many of you while we were in Southampton and now on board, and I’m delighted to hear how much you have been enjoying all the Blogs we’ve posted.

As you saw in Peter Shanks’, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Blog yesterday, it was a remarkable day on Monday when her majesty named Cunard’s newest Queen. I’ll share some more pictures of that day and our amazing sail away in a moment, after this day in Cunard’s history for the week, 8 to 14 October:

It’s incredible to think that just over three years ago Cunard announced that Queen Elizabeth was to be constructed and here we are on our way to our first port of call on our Maiden Voyage

Today we crossed the Bay of Biscay and just like our time in Southampton, we have been blessed with fantastic weather.

Going back to the naming day, it was such a privilege to be able to see the Queen on board and looking so radiant. For me to be introduced to her by the Royal Box, as she watched the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Company rehearse Twelfth Night, was a moment I’ll never forget. She seemed amazed by the Royal Court Theatre and showed a lot of interest in how it was managed, staying longer than we had expected.

She was then escorted down the grand staircase in the Royal Arcade, by Peter Shanks and Captain Wells, where she admired the new Dent Clock.

Not only were our distinguished guests enjoying the tour on big screens in the main auditorium by the ship, but the residents of Southampton were also able to enjoy it on giant screens erected throughout the city, including this one at Guildhall Square.

They had a double sided screen to accommodate the crowds, so thank you to Craig from Southampton City Council who was kind enough to send me this photo of the live screening. Her Majesty was greeted throughout the ship by an enthusiastic cheering crew, especially in the Grand Lobby, where she looked at the stunning marquetry piece of artwork, created by her nephew, Lord Linley.

Before long we were all in the auditorium waiting for her Majesty to say those all important words, as the bottle waited to be released.

As Peter said yesterday, the bottle was indeed obliterated as the ship blew her horns and confetti cannons shot streamers out over the bow of Queen Elizabeth to a massive cheer on board, in the auditorium, and no doubt all over the world.

With the formal part of the ceremony over we all went back on board to prepare for the Gala Evening, and it was so good to see the ship literally alive with guests; a moment we had waited to enjoy for a long time.

As our Naming Ceremony guests left the following morning, the ship’s company worked tirelessly as always to ensure we were ready for our very first guests to arrive shortly before noon. It’s quite something to be the very first guests to board a ship on her maiden voyage, and here you can see Captain Wells and our White Star Bellboys welcoming Ms Erma Klindt and Dr Doris Lorz, both from the United States and well travelled Cunarders. In fact Dr Lorz will be our most travelled guest on this voyage, and I’ll tell you more about that next week.

By 4.30pm, we had completed our safety drill with all 1,957 guests aboard, and Captain Wells prepared Queen Elizabeth for her Maiden Voyage. It was a very emotional moment for everyone as guests lined the decks with Union Jacks listening to the wonderful music, provided on the quayside by the Prince of Wales Regiment Band.

The music choice was excellent; I particularly enjoyed One Moment In Time as a poignant salute to our new Queen’s departure. Then at just after 5.00pm on a beautiful autumn day, Captain Wells ordered that the last of the lines were let go, and Queen Elizabeth moved gently away from her berth.

It was great to see all our guests celebrating on the open decks with the band still playing and numerous people in the terminal building and on the quayside itself. As Queen Elizabeth moved further away we started some great music on the open decks which included, Jerusalem, Pomp and Circumstance as well as Rule Britannia and Fantasia Of British Sea Songs. We were also joined by a flotilla of small boats all blasting their whistles.

Walking along the decks it was like a big family reunion constantly bumping in to guests who I had sailed with many times before. It was also a great opportunity to chat to many guests who had been following the Blog. I was delighted to see amongst all the Union Jacks, the St. Pirin’s flag (Cornwall’s national flag), waved by fellow Cornishmen, who were quick to tell me they had been following the Blog for the last eighteen months. Peter and Margaret Housegood from St. Kew in Cornwall were also celebrating their 42^nd Wedding Anniversary.

More and more craft joined us as we sailed up the Solent, including the Isle of Wight ferry, which had been chartered for the occasion.

I then went to the other side of the ship to see even more pleasure boats, and cruisers joining us with every inch of deck space filled with cheering onlookers enjoying seeing Southampton’s newest ship leave for the first time.

It was such a moving sail away between the rousing music, the escorting flotilla and meeting up with old friends. It was so good to bump in to Dennie Farmer again, as I hadn’t seen her since she became Queen Elizabeth’s Madrina back in January.

If you didn’t catch the story at the time you can click on this link:

http://wearecunard.com/2010/01/meet-queen-elizabeth%e2%80%99s-madrina/

Denny told me that she found the whole occasion simply overwhelmingly wonderful. Then as the sun began to set, it was time to get ready for the first evening meal on board and our brand new Welcome Aboard show, but it was so beautiful up on deck I had to take just one more photo:

We will be in our first port of Vigo, Spain when you read this, but throughout the voyage I’ll make sure I bring you lots more news as well as news from our two sisters next week. Thanks again so much for all your comments and for reading the Blog. Cheers for now, Alastair

  President’s Blog

  Peter Shanks

  President and Managing Director

  Cunard Line

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I write this whilst at sea on the maiden voyage of Queen Elizabeth. We enjoyed a beautiful sail away from Southampton last evening in glorious sunshine and all on board are now settling nicely into the voyage. I have not had much time to reflect on what took place in Southampton on Monday when Her Majesty graced us with her presence. It was a remarkable, emotional, exciting and very proud day for all of us who have been involved in bringing this magnificent new ship to life. I thought I would describe for you how my day went and perhaps share with you an insight into our very special day.

Up at 0530 and off to a series of radio and television interviews – the interest and excitement across the media was electric. On many of the interviews I was asked if the bottle would break to which my confident answer was – ‘No – it will obliterate’ – more of that later.

We greeted a thousand guests who had joined us on board for lunch prior to the ceremony. Another thousand were gathering for a welcome reception in the terminal and they would then also join the ceremony and then stay on board for our Gala Dinner. As part of the celebrations we invited our friends from Princes Trust and in doing so raised a further £30,000 for the cause. One of their Ambassadors, Sir Ben Kingsley, spoke briefly prior to lunch. I say briefly – but I have never heard such an eloquent and powerful speech and I am sure it rightly put our Princes Trust relationship front of mind.

As our guests enjoyed lunch I stood in the empty arena with a TV crew. I spoke to 17 different North American TV Breakfast Stations in 90 minutes. I spoke to Cincinnati, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fort Myers and many national stations and was taken aback by the international interest of what was about to happen. Then – as 2,000 guests took their place in the grandstand alongside the parade ground we had created – I had 45 minutes to myself to prepare for the arrival of Her Majesty The Queen.

So here we are. I am standing on a red carpet at the forward brow looking down the length of the ship. Behind me is what I can only describe as a ‘posse’ of media. At exactly the promised time, around the corner at the end of the dock came the beautiful royal car. I can’t describe the feeling as the car travelled slowly down the dock towards us. Next to me stood one of our security officers, I whispered to him ‘This is certainly one moment you can tell your family about’.

Nervous, yes but as soon as I was introduced to Her Majesty she put me at ease with a wonderful smile. She would be with us for 60 minutes and at that point I knew it was going to the proudest 60 minutes of my business career.

We were up and running as I introduced her to Captain Wells who in turn introduced his senior officers. As we set off towards the first lift – the first challenge. Her Majesty asked if she could see a suite – something we had not thought we had time for on the tour. The answer was ‘Of course Maam’. I glanced at the team and I knew they would make it happen. We arrived on the Bridge and Captain set about his work. We will all remember the magical moment that Her Majesty pushed the button for the ship’s whistle. It was just a short blast – perhaps the enormity of the sound taking her a bit by surprise. Outside on the naming parade ground we hear 2,000 guests roar with laughter and applause – they too had been taken by surprise not knowing that the pictures they were seeing were live.

Onto the cabin and Her Majesty showed real interest – and was able to compare to ships of old. (I am rather hoping she may come back for longer one day) From there we were down to the Royal Court Theatre. As we then walked through the ship we had the Ship’s Company present all cheering and applauding Her Majesty. I was so pleased that the ship’s company was able to see Her Majesty at such close quarters and the smiles on their faces were wonderful. In the Queens Room we introduced a small number of dignitaries and our Hotel team. For me the proudest moment of the day had arrived as I was able to introduce my wife to Her Majesty.

Through the Grand Lobby, past the wonderful Royal Portrait, a signing of the visitor book and then we were ready for the ceremony.

Hopefully you have seen the video of the ceremony on the blog, or the short three minute version below this post. It was indeed remarkable. Singing the National Anthem with Her Majesty present is a very emotional moment and it set the tone perfectly. I am very fortunate to represent all of those who work so hard for Cunard and I had been thinking about this speech for quite some time. It was important for me to say the right things, but for me it was also important that the speech came across as personal. OK – so when talking about ‘easing dollars from American pockets’ I meant to go on to  say ‘Rubles from Russians’ and instead said ‘Russians from Rubles’ and everybody giggled – well making Her Majesty smile works for me.

There are moments and there are moments. Let me tell you – standing with Her Majesty The Queen to my left, Carnival Corporation Chairman to my right and the world’s media in front of me all thinking the same thing about the bottle – that is a moment. And when Her Majesty uttered those famous words and pushed the button all eyes switched to the bottle of Rothschild Wine hanging perilously above the bow. Well – as planned, it did not smash it obliterated. Unconfined joy all around me – not least for myself and I let out a yelp of joy. I could now start to enjoy the day.

Her Majesty left as she had arrived with a lovely smile and some very kind words. For the 2,000 present we had enjoyed a moment of history and a moment made special by the presence of such a warm, marvelous and much loved monarch. After all had left the parade ground, I managed to find our event organizers, musical conductor and events team to thank them for what they had achieved. And I made sure the biggest ‘high five’ went to the man who made sure my ‘moment’ turned into a moment of sheer joy – the man who made sure the bottle obliterated. Our ambition was to ‘make the hair on the back of your neck stand to attention’ and that it did.

The evening concluded with a wonderful formal dinner in the Britannia restaurant. I have to admit I enjoyed my first cold glass of beer. We at Cunard are blessed with a marvelous history and we try our very hardest to continue the fine traditions that have set us apart for so many years. Monday was indeed remarkable and I would like to put on record just how proud I am of every single person at Cunard and those who helped to make it happen. If there was ever a day to say ‘We Are Cunard’ – then Monday was indeed that day.

That was two days ago and we are now settling into the maiden voyage – more of that shortly…………….

Best Regards

Peter Shanks

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – Today!! 

Queen Elizabeth has been docked alongside Southampton’s new Ocean Terminal, since her arrival last Friday and already, an estimated 3,500 visitors comprising the world’s press, past guests, travel agents, and shore side staff, have had a glimpse of the latest Cunarder. It was great to walk around over the last couple of days and meet so many of our regular guests, many of whom have been following this Blog. And before her Maiden Voyage today, yesterday was a phenomenal day when Her Majesty officially named Queen Elizabeth. 

Before we look at the last few days, I thought you might like to watch a special video that was made for the Inaugural Ship’s Company to celebrate the introduction of Queen Elizabeth to the Cunard fleet. The film, which shows the crew at work in the shipyard back in Italy, has special messages from Officers and Crew Members on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, as well as our shore side staff in Southampton. 

Thanks to Eric Allen and his team for putting together this great video and all the film crews who brought together this great footage. Everyone on board really enjoyed watching it a couple of days before we left Monfalcone and a special celebratory crew event. 

That all seems a long time ago, as Queen Elizabeth prepares to begin her Maiden Voyage. The celebrations in Southampton began early last Friday, as Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks escorted a group of press on a special launch to come and meet us at 6am. 

It was such a stunning morning to watch Southampton appear on the horizon, and it was exciting to see all the various boats, ships and helicopters that had come to welcome us to Queen Elizabeth’s home port. 

This boat was one of the first to greet us and stayed close by right up until we docked. 

We were also joined by tugs who gave us their traditional welcome, as the sun started to rise on a beautiful autumn day. 

I was lucky enough to be on the bridge for part of the sail in, where I was able to watch Captain Wells and his Officers bring Cunard’s new Queen to Southampton docks for the first time. 

Meanwhile many crew came out on to the open decks to join in the excitement, and wave to the numerous helicopters that were carrying photographers and news crews to capture the day. 

And what stunning pictures those photographers took from the helicopters, like this one looking down on Queen Elizabeth’s the upper decks 

What a magnificent sight she was sailing up the Solent. 

And here’s another great view showing the tugs in the morning light. 

And again the tugs leading the way. 

Captain Wells showed off Queen Elizabeth’s superb manoeuvrability, as he made a turn, to bring Queen Elizabeth to the  new Ocean Terminal, where she was named. 

Here she is having just been tied up alongside the Ocean Terminal, where work had already begun on constructing a stage and grandstand for the naming ceremony. 

I took this photo the day before yesterday, where you can see the grandstand and performance area along the dockside where the naming ceremony began yesterday afternoon. 

The canopy in this next picture is where Her Majesty officially named Queen Elizabeth during the ceremony. 

Yesterday was a remarkable and historic day for both Cunard and Southampton, and the excitement in the city was evident with numerous film crew, press and local residents all awaiting the big moment. It’s impossible to miss the huge banners throughout the city, and the big screens in the parks will mean our homeport will feel very much a part of the celebrations. 

And here she was just before the ceremony yesterday; Cunard’s gracious new Queen now ready and waiting to be named. 

I’ll of course keep you posted with pictures, news and stories from the naming day and throughout Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage. I will also keep the news coming over the next few weeks and months of her Maiden Season as well as our regular features and news. In the meantime thank you again for all the kind comments you have posted and all the good wishes for the ships company as they bring the latest Cunarder in to service. Cheers for now, Alastair

Today marked the exciting culmination of more than two years planning and building, as our newest Cunarder was named by Her Majesty The Queen in a spectacular ceremony in Southampton’s Ocean Terminal.

Take a look at this wonderful video of highlights from the inaugural weekend, including her arrival into Southampton: