Cunard’s brand new Queen Elizabeth liner will turn the clock back more than 70 years when she makes her maiden voyage in October next year. There will be striped blazers and boaters… lawn bowls and paddle tennis on deck… not forgetting the occasional tea dance and the social evenings. The 365million pounds (US $513 million) ship will remind of us of the first of the Queen Elizabeth liners which ruled the waves. Though the huge vessel is a succession of the recently retired QE2, she will not be called QE3 because the company wants to keep alive the memory of the original.
The luxury liner which will be able to accommodate 2,092 guests, will have a West End-style theatre with private boxes, a 4,000 sq ft shopping arcade, a games deck featuring a bowls green and croquet lawn, plus a 10,000 sq ft spa and fitness centre. What more do you want? A total of 85 per cent of the berths will boast outside views and 71 per cent will have balconies.
Cunard intends to create a traditional 1930s and 1940s on board with country house-style parties beneath the glass roof of the garden lounge, glamorous evening balls, dance marathons and classic films from the 1930s and 1940s. The interior will boast what the company described as an ‘art deco flourish’, plus some solid, traditional materials such as oak, mahogany, stained glass and marble. To keep the tradition going, a member of the Royal family will maintain seven decades of association with the Elizabeth liners by formally christening the ship when she is completed after sea trials in summer 2010. Her maiden voyage begins on October 12 next year when she will travel from Southampton to the islands of the Atlantic. The fares will range from 1,489 pounds ($2,093) up to almost 16,000 pounds ($22,493) per person for one of the grand suites.
