MS Queen Elizabeth
| 300px MS Queen Victoria image used as Queen Elizabeth is still under construction. | |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | MS Queen Elizabeth |
| Owner: | Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator: | Cunard Line |
| Port of registry: |
Southampton  United Kingdom |
| Route: | Voyages ex. Southampton |
| Ordered: | October, 2007 |
| Builder: | Fincantieri Monfalcone Shipyard, Italy |
| Cost: | UK£350 million (approx.)[1] |
| Yard number: | 6187 |
| Laid down: | 2 July 2009 |
| Launched: | 5 January 2010 floated out |
| Christened: | 11 October 2010 |
| Maiden voyage: | 12 October 2010 |
| Status: | as of 2010, officially delivered to Cunard |
| Notes: | Vista Class, larger sister to Cunard's Queen Victoria |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 92,000 gross tons |
| Length: | 294m (964.5 ft)[2] |
| Beam: | 32.3m (106 ft)[2] |
| Draught: | 8 m (26ft)[2] |
| Decks: | 12[2] |
| Installed power: |
4 × MaK 12 M 43 C diesels 2 × MaK 8 M 43 C diesels[3] |
| Propulsion: | Caterpillar Marine Power Systems 4x MaK 12 M 43 C and 2x MaK 8 M 43 C [4] |
| Speed: | 23.7 kts. |
| Capacity: | 2,092 passengers |
| Notes: | Dennie Farmer (madrina) Queen Elizabeth II (will be the godmother) |
MS Queen Elizabeth is a cruise ship of the Cunard Line fleet, owned by Carnival Corporation & plc and operated by Carnival UK.[2] A Vista class ship, Queen Elizabeth is the sister ship of MS Queen Victoria.
With modified design from other Vista class vessels, she is slightly larger than Queen Victoria, at 92,000 gross tons, largely due to a more vertical stern. Capable of carrying up to 2,092 passengers, she is the second largest Cunard ship ever built, after RMS Queen Mary 2.[1]
The ship's name was announced by Cunard on 10 October 2007, so that the company would have three vessels once again after the retirement of QE2.[5]
The naming of the ship as Queen Elizabeth sees a situation similar to that between 1940 and 1948, when Cunard's original Queen Elizabeth was in service at the same time as the Royal Navy battleship Queen Elizabeth. In 2014, four years after this ship joins the fleet, the Royal Navy plans to introduce into service the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.[6]
The first master of Queen Elizabeth is Captain Chris Wells.[7]
Contents
Design
Exterior
The Queen Elizabeth will be almost identical in design to her sister ship Queen Victoria, although because of the steeper stern, her passenger capacity will be slightly higher (2058 to Queen Victoria's 2014).[8] Also because of this difference, the largest suites at the stern of the Queen Elizabeth will have smaller balconies [9][10]. At the forward end of deck 11, there will be a glass roof covering the games deck, unlike the sports deck on the Queen Victoria.[11]
Interior
Although having an almost identical interior arrangement to the Queen Victoria, the decor will be very different. The ship will be a tribute to the two previous Cunard Queen Elizabeths: the original Queen Elizabeth and the QE2. It will also evoke the era of the 1930s, in which Cunard's first Queen Elizabeth was launched, with many art deco interior touches.[12] The ship will also feature a Britannia Club section of the main restaurant, which is a feature popular on the Queen Mary 2, but not available on the Queen Victoria. This service allows passengers in the Britannia staterooms to have single seating dining arrangements, without having to upgrade to the more expensive Grills classes.[13]
Godmother
On 1st September 2010 Cunard Cruise Lines officially confirmed that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be naming Cunard's new ship [14]. The ceremony will be held in Southampton on Monday 11 October 2010 before the Queen Elizabeth 2,092 passenger ship sets sail for her maiden voyage to the Canary Islands the following day. Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth has also been the Godmother for the now retired Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1967 and Cunard's current flagship Queen Mary 2 in 2004.
Service History
On Monday October 4th 2010 Queen Elizabeth was formally handed over to Cunard. Queen Elizabeth is expected to start her maiden voyage from Southampton on Tuesday October 12th 2010 the day after she will be named similarly to the Queen Victoria and other Cunard ships before her. She will set sail for the Spanish port of Vigo before heading for Lisbon, Cadiz, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma and Madeira. Afterwards she will make many European Cruises until she will make her first World Cruise leaving Southampton on January 5th 2011. She will make stops at New York, Fort Lauderdale, Aruba and Limon before transiting the Panama Canal. She will then make stops at Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and Los Angeles before making her way across the Pacific Ocean to Lahaina, Honolulu, Apia, Pago Pago, Fiji, Bay of Islands, Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Bali, Hong Kong, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, Ko Samui, Langkawi, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Cochin, Mumbai, Muscat, Dubai where she will meet her predeccesor Queen Elizabeth 2 for the first time, Salalah and Aqaba then she will transit the Suez Canal until Athens, Rome, Lisbon and then returning to Southampton. The voyage is expected to take 103 days. She will then make many European Cruises before September 2011 when she is expected to make her Maiden Round the British Isles departing Southampton on the 2nd of September 2011 making her way to Edinburgh, Invergordon for Inverness, Greenock for Glasgow, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork and St Peter Port in Guernsey before returning to Southampton. Then she will make various more European cruises until a Caribbean cruise in November and December 2011. She will make a second world cruise in January 2012.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cunard Line: Cunard to Build "Queen Elizabeth"; October 10, 2007
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "QE History". Chris' Cunard Page. http://www.chriscunard.com/queen_elizabeth_history.php. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- ↑ "Cunard chooses MaK engines for new Queen Elizabeth". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd. 2008-03-11. http://www.cruisebusiness.com/news.php?u=20080311104023. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ↑ http://www.cat.com/cda/components/fullArticle?m=38622&x=7&id=793173 Caterpillar powers the new “Queen Elizabeth”
- ↑ http://www.thecunarders.co.uk/Queen%20Elizabeth%203.html
- ↑ "Carriers to enter service late". BBC News. 11 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7776695.stm. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ↑ Cunard Blog 7-09-2009 retrieved 14-09-2009
- ↑ http://www.cunard.co.uk/OurShips/default.asp?Ship=QE&main=int&sub=fac Ship facts
- ↑ http://www.cunard.co.uk/OurShips/default.asp?Ship=QE&main=acc&sub=qgr QE suites
- ↑ http://www.cunard.co.uk/OurShips/default.asp?Ship=QV&main=acc&sub=qgr QV suites
- ↑ http://www.cunard.co.uk/OurShips/default.asp?Ship=QE&main=onb&sub=dac&sub2=dacgd Games Deck
- ↑ "Queen Elizabeth Press Launch". Cunard Line - Press Release. 2009-03-17. http://whttp://www.cunard.co.uk/qelaunch/. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://www.cunard.co.uk/OurShips/default.asp?Ship=QE&main=acc&sub=clb QE Britannia Club
- ↑ http://www.cruises.co.uk/109-cruise_news_updated_daily/10556-queen_will_name_queen.html
External links
- Video of the press launch (March 17th 2009)
- MS Queen Elizabeth on Cunard.co.uk
- "Queen Elizabeth". Chris' Cunard Page. http://www.chriscunard.com/queen_elizabeth.php. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
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