After a 3 week tour of Italy, we topped off our vacation with an eleven-day Mediterranean cruise during the month of December aboard the stately Cunard Line Queen Elizabeth.
Departing from the ancient Roman port
I like to think of the Cunard Queen Elizabeth as “London on the high seas.” We boarded the ship at Civitavecchia, an ancient seaport outside of Rome. It was originally built in 107 – 108 A.C. and was called Centumcellae.
The port reached its glory during the Imperial Age. Most of its antiquities were destroyed during WWII, but what remains of the fortress makes it easy to imagine what it was like centuries ago.
Click on smaller images to view FULL SIZE of Civitavecchia
Boarding the Queen
We hadn’t read all the fine print on our travel documents and didn’t realize we were supposed to arrive in the morning. After traveling from Sorrento to Rome and then from Rome to the port, we arrived around 5 pm. It all worked out for the best, though. When we stepped up to the empty embarkation desk, we learned we had been upgraded to a prestigious Queen’s Suite. That is the most elite location on the ship.
Our tablemates at the Queen’s Grill
Our room was elegant and beyond comfortable with a starboard balcony on the 7th deck. The upgrade also entitled us to dine in the exclusive Queen’s Grill, where we could appear whenever we were hungry rather than deal with timed seating. We loved that our table looked out to the deck and the sea.
Our tablemates were delightful! Edgar and his lovely wife Joan were British but lived in Cap d’ail near Cannes, France. Edgar had been affiliated with Cambridge and Oxford as a graduate and professor. He worked for Lloyds of London and fascinated us with his knowledge of everything British.
Joan was an accomplished artist, beekeeper, and, at one time, taught home economics. Both were in their 80’s and had been on the ship for a month before our arrival. They were planning to travel to Singapore and Australia soon after our cruise ended.
Swen was a dashing German electrical engineer and entrepreneur in his forties. He had traveled all over the world and was brilliant and equally fascinating. His 87-year-old father, Dietmar, a nautical engineer and designer, was traveling with him.
Ann was a 60-year-old widow from Washington, DC. She had worked at the Pentagon with the Air Force space program and had a vast knowledge of launching satellites and space travel. I was impressed that she was traveling solo and applauded her chutzpah. Cunard is accommodating to single women traveling. Even if you travel with your husband, you can ditch him and find a “dance escort” who will be happy to cut a rug with you.
Can we say POSH?
Our room “butler”, Natalia, hailed from Odesa, Ukraine, and her assistant, Larry, was Filipino. Natalia delivered our breakfast each morning, canapes in the late afternoon, turned down our bed, and left us chocolates every evening. We had booked the cruise at a discounted rate on Vacations to Go, but our experience was très elegant!
Activities on board while sailing
Activities ranged from daily afternoon high tea, e-lessons, card games, trivia, dance classes, fruit, fruit carving, lectures, spa treatments, whiskey tastings, and nightly shows. The ship is more regal than glitzy. It does not have a theme park atmosphere like other cruise companies. I prefer it that way as it is so much classier.
It was December, and the ship was decked out beautifully for the holidays.
Please click on the images below of the Queen Elizabeth to view them full size.
A special treat
We were allowed to go up to the bridge to see how the ship navigates the seas. High-tech and impressive!
Watch out for rolling waves, and thank goodness for the spa
The only snafus on our cruise were when my partner gave me his nasty cold on our second day out. I tried to avoid it, but he was coughing, sneezing, and hacking all over me. I also tripped over my suitcase and did a number on my little toe. That meant I had to hobble on all of our excursions starting in Barcelona.
I went down to the 1st deck to visit the ship’s doctor at the Queen Elizabeth Medical Center. She confirmed my toe wasn’t broken and tied it to the toe next to it for support. It’s nice to know a full medical staff is there to help you in an emergency.
I also went to the spa, which offered a wonderful swollen foot and ankle treatment. I thought that was smart and eagerly took advantage of the service. Our room had a huge jacuzzi tub that I soaked my feet in using some salts that I bought at the spa.
Our Excursions
I went online a week before the cruise to book our excursions and panicked when they weren’t available. We were placed on the waitlist. Once aboard the ship, we were relieved to learn there was no problem booking our tours. The“waitlist” is the cruise line’s way of determining how many buses to order.
Livorno, Italy
Click on the images below to view them full size
Our first stop was Livorno, Italy, where we boarded a bus for a quick visit to Florence. We walked along the Ponte Vecchio, saw the Florence Duomo, and had lunch at Cathedral Square. After lunch, we boarded the bus again and headed to Pisa, where we saw the Square of Miracles and the Leaning Tower.
Toulon and Saint Tropez, France
Next, we got off in Toulon, France, where we took a coach to Saint Tropez and Port Grimaud. It was the off-season, and most of the shops were closed. The cafes were mega expensive, so we meandered through the streets and stopped at a sandwich truck popular with the locals, where we had an amazing sandwich sitting on a park bench.
After Saint Tropez, our coach driver took us to Port Grimaud. It’s supposed to look like a French village, but it was more like a condo complex with canals. I was expecting a timeshare presentation. The concept is fascinating to Europeans but peculiar to Americans. We waited out our time in a small cafe, drinking rosé and browsing the Internet.
Barcelona, Spain
We did a 3-stop excursion in Barcelona, Spain, which took us to the Spanish Village, the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, and La Rambla, where we shared a paella at Bar Nuri. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. I’d been there one time before and always wanted to come back. The Spanish Village was built for tourists during the Barcelona Olympics. It reminded me of a pavilion at the Epcot Center. I wished we’d spent time elsewhere. However, the short time we were in the city was still lovely.
Malaga, Spain
Our Best of Malaga, Spain tour took us to the fort, the Alcazaba (built by the Moors), and the town center, where we visited the Picasso Museum. We ended our day sipping wine with tapas at an outdoor cafe. Malaga is a stunningly beautiful seaside city. I could picture myself happily living there.
Lisbon, Portugal
The city of Lisbon is set on top of seven hills. It had been destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 1755. Our bus took us to the old Monastery at Belem, the seaport, and then lunch in the city center. Down the street from the Monastery was a pastry shop with the most incredible Pastéis de Nata custard tarts I’d ever tasted.
Gibraltar
Next was the Rock of Gibraltar. We jumped into a small van that took us to see the magnificent caverns inside the rock. Cute little apes roamed everywhere. One of them jumped on my back and stole my water bottle. Gibraltar is a favorite shopping destination for tourists because all the stores are duty-free.
Vigo, Spain
Vigo, Spain, was an unexpected stop. We were supposed to dock in Porto, Portugal, but the sea was rough that day, so the ship was redirected to Vigo in Galicia, in northwest Spain.
Our tour bus took us to the small seaport town of Baiona where we had tapas and wine at the lovely Parador de Baiona, once a fortress, located in the southern Rías Baixas region.
Paradors are historical buildings turned into hotels and are owned by the government. After a generous lunch, we leisurely wandered through town.
My overall impression of our cruise
The only thing I found frustrating on board was how expensive the internet was. Not a great thing for a blogger.
But, other than that, the entire Cunard line staff was extremely helpful and attentive. We especially loved Amanda, who was the ship’s entertainment director. She had a sparkling, funny personality, and we enjoyed watching her early morning chat on the ship’s TV station. She was on stage at all the evening shows, and we wondered if she ever slept.
Cruising on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth was first class all the way. You can’t beat Cunard if you’re looking for a classy ocean liner experience.
A ship reunion
A few months after our cruise, we heard that the Queen Elizabeth met up in Long Beach for its 175th anniversary with the original Queen Mary, but we couldn’t make it there. That would have been incredible. Oh well, next time
Have you been aboard a Cunard ship? Please leave a comment below and tell us about your experience.
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