Voyage on Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2003

The Queen Elizabeth 2 is the way luxury travel should be. It takes a leisurely 6 days to cross the Atlantic from New York to Southhamption, England. The ship is 963 feet long and has 12 decks. It is a floating hotel with dozens of major oil paintings and other works of art. It requires several days of exploration to figure out the whole ship. It is like a small city with 1726 passengers, a crew of 996 and a full array of shops and stores including Harrad's, barber shops, beauty shops, doctors, a library, a movie theater, a casino, bars, restaurants, etc. The food is fantastic. Everything is pre-paid so you can eat as much as you want at every meal. I developed a taste for smoked salmon for breakfast. There were some delicious things to be eaten for the first time. There is an example of a menu below. I'm sure everyone gained weight on this cruise!

There are a wide variety of activities to keep you occupied day and night besides the wonderful meals. There is a 2 hour tour of the ship that covers the history of Samuel Cunard, the founder. There are old fashioned wooden puzzles and shuffleboard. You can walk the deck (5 U shaped laps is a mile). Golf practice in nets and basketball outside. There is swimming inside or outside. There are exercise classes. There are dancing classes, sewing classes, acting classes, speakers on a variety of subjects like weather forecasting, the Concorde and Mozart. I was taken by a quote from that lecture: "When the angels played music for God, they played Bach, but when they played music for themselves, they played Mozart."

During the day, there were also trivial pursit games. I was on a team with a group (Gary Horsfield, his wife Dorothy, and 2 others) from the north of England and although we didn't win, we were serious contenders every single day. Check out Gary's website to see the impact of American influence on the world and to have some fun! Don't forget to sign his guestbook. On the last day, I was in the main event of these quizes called "I Will Survive". There were 8 teams of 4 each and we were all on stage in the grand lounge. After 6 teams were eliminated the people on the remaining 2 teams, including mine, had to compete against each other. I was very pleased to finish #3 and if you must know, except for one bizzare question on Egyptian ants(!!) I probably would have won.

Speaking of the grand lounge, every night there was live entertainment. Most nights it was the Broadway Bound group, 10 very talented people in their 20s, who sang, danced and acted. One night it was Kristin Spencer who was just fantastic as a soloist on the cello and the electric cello. Another night there was a comedian and one night Ann Hampton Callaway of "Swing" fame and daughter of John Callaway of TV interview fame. Entertainment, like meals, was included in the basic price of the cruise.

I had a great time. I took a lot of video footage, but not too many still photos. So thanks to Simone Bigolin of Italy for sharing 2 of his photos.


DMP Boarding QE2 I boarded the QE2 in New York on August 17, 2003 just after the infamous power outage. QE2 At Night The Queen Elizabeth 2 has been the most famous liner on the Atlantic for a generation.
Next Ship There was another ocean liner in the next pier to the QE2 in New York. QE2 Swimming Pool The QE2 has an outdoor and an indoor pool. Our weather was the in 60s and 70s and overcast all week.

Daily Programme Every day there is a Daily Programme in which the Captain specifies the dress code for dinner. If you are not correctly dressed, you are not seated. Dinner Menu Typical Dinner Menu. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner were excellent and everyone gains weight on the QE2!
Captain and I Captain Ian McNaught specified formal dress for 4 of the 6 nights of the cruise. I had fun adding my Sons of the American Revolution medals to be more formal. DMP at Dinner Here is a candid snapshot of me at dinner. I was assigned to Table #283 which held 6 people. We had interesting conversations every night.

Daily Activities I did very well in the "Will I Survive" quiz game coming in #3 of the 32 contestants, who were some of the best quiz players on the ship. Daily Activities The free nightly entertainment was outstanding. Today the featured entertainer was the beautiful Kristin Spencer who had played several times for Princess Diana.
Captain and Officers Here I'm with the Captain and some of his junior Officers. Kirstin Spencer Kirstin Spencer was brilliant on the cello and the electric cello shown in this photo.
Broadway Bound Cast Most nights the Broadway Bound Cast entertained with singing, dancing and acting. Broadway Bound Cast Unfortunately my poor photos don't do justice to a very talented group.