The new Queen Elizabeth, sister ship to the 2-year-old Queen Victoria, is taking shape at the shipyard in Italy! It has been under construction since 2009 and is just a couple months shy of it's naming ceremony in Southampton, England.
The QE will have some twists that will make it a little more unique that the QV. What gives it it's own personality is mostly in dining and entertainment, and also a couple of structural differences. The QE will have a sports deck on Deck 10 that will offer croquet and lawn bowling. It will also have 38 more cabins than the QV, giving the ship capacity for about 100 more passengers. More room for us Cunard lovers!
There is an art deco theme throughout the QE, in tribute to its namesake predecessor (the previous QE was built in 1938).
The QE will sport a new specialty restaurant, the Verandah, with a French menu created by Jean-Marie Zimmermann, a longtime Cunard chef. Another dining difference will be the return of the Britannia Club, the restaurant for passengers staying in the highest category of the ship's standard cabins.
Also new is that the QE's lido deck restaurant by night will transform into one of three restaurants with table service: Asado, modeled after an Argentinian steakhouse; Aztec, offering Mexican cuisine; and Jasmine, a pan-Asian eatery. There will be a $10 surcharge for those themes.
Other small changes include the addition of a central staircase in the Britannia dining room which really re-creates the ocean liner experience!
