2 July 2009 – Today a ceremony to
mark the keel laying of Cunard Line’s new
Queen Elizabeth was held at the Monfalcone
shipyard of Fincantieri near Trieste, Italy. The
second largest Cunarder ever built, Queen
Elizabeth’s keel is the third Cunard has
lain in the space of seven years. When she enters
service in October 2010, she will join Queen
Mary 2 and Queen Victoria as
not only the most famous ocean liners in the world
but also the youngest fleet in passenger travel.
The keel laying involves the placement in the dry
dock of the first section of the ship’s hull. This
section is made up of six pre-manufactured blocks,
weighs 364 tons and is fitted with 104 tons of
pipes, cables, insulation and other equipment.
The ceremony followed an intensive period of design
and development. Fifty-three sections will be used
in the construction of Queen Elizabeth
and she will take to the water for the
first time at her float out in December.
“We are delighted
to be back here among our friends at Fincantieri
so soon after we took delivery of Queen
Victoria in 2007—the first Cunarder to be
built in Italy—and I am sure that Queen
Elizabeth will be just as popular and
successful as her two sister ships,” said Carol
Marlow, president of Cunard Line. “We at Cunard
are always impressed by the commitment and
enthusiasm of everyone at Fincantieri, and we look
forward to the next year-and-a half of working
closely with them on this ship, which will be
nurtured by their skill and vision and built into
a vessel equal in stature to the other great
Cunard liners,” she added.
Paolo Capobianco, director of Fincantieri
Shipyard, said, “Our company is the heir to the
Italian shipbuilding industry and the world leader
in cruise ship construction and believes, as
Cunard does, in the possibility and the need of
actively matching tradition and innovation.
Building a new liner for Cunard is a special
achievement for Fincantieri and takes us right to
our roots, fostering both our determination to
build once again a passenger ship of high
technological content and unmistakable style,
reflecting the best of the industry and tailored
to the needs and requirements of the ship owner.”
Queen Elizabeth will feature the
unique Cunard traditions linking her with her
sisters Queen Mary 2 and
Queen Victoria and their predecessors,
together with all the modern day luxuries Cunard’s
guests have come to expect and some exciting
features that will give the vessel her own style
and personality.
Named after the first Queen Elizabeth,
one of Cunard’s greatest ships, the new
Queen Elizabeth will reflect her
predecessor in interior grandeur, décor and style,
but with a modern twist. From the outside, her
distinctive black and red livery will hint at an
experience that differentiates a Cunard liner from
a modern-day cruise ship. This will be most
evident in the ship’s adherence to liner
traditions, with elegant double and triple height
public rooms on a grand scale, luxuriously endowed
with rich wood paneling, intricate mosaics,
gleaming chandeliers and cool marbles. Art Deco
features will pay homage to the original
Queen Elizabeth and will allow the new
ship to reflect a more civilized era of travel.
Furthermore, in addition to the extensive Cunard
entertainment program on board, Queen
Elizabeth will offer some unique strands
inspired by the era of the first Queen
Elizabeth, such as country house parties
at sea, evening piano sing-a-longs and period
dancing, from traditional ballroom to the
jitterbug and the jive, all within the setting of
this 21st century ship.
As successor to Queen Elizabeth 2,
the ship will also reflect this great liner
through artworks and memorabilia and its very own
“Yacht Club.”
Queen Elizabeth will also pay
homage to the links that Cunard has enjoyed with
royalty and the maritime world over the years with
photography, memorabilia and exhibits.
Queen Elizabeth will depart on
her Maiden Voyage on 12 October 2010—a
voyage which sold out in a record-breaking 29
minutes 14 seconds in April 2009. This 13-night
celebration will leave from Cunard’s home port of
Southampton and will call at Vigo (for Santiago de
Compostela), Lisbon, Seville (Cadiz), Gran Canaria
(Las Palmas), Tenerife (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, an
overnight call), La Palma (Santa Cruz de La Palma)
and Madeira (Funchal).
Her Maiden Season will run from October
2010 to January 2011 and include voyages to the
Western and Central Mediterranean and the
Caribbean. Fares start from just $1,195 per person
for the five-night 26 November 2010 Gallic
Debut voyage with ports of call at Amsterdam,
Zeebrugge and Le Havre; while the 13-night
Iberian Discovery voyage departing 1 December
2010 features fares from $2,395 per person, with
ports of call at Vigo, Lisbon, Seville, Gran
Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma and Madeira.
The world’s newest ocean liner will depart
Southampton on 5 January 2011 on her 103-night
epic Maiden World Voyage, which has just
been released for sale. This will see her make 35
maiden calls, including Cunard’s first call ever
at Port Denarau (Fiji). In total, Queen
Elizabeth will call at 38 ports in 24
countries as she makes her way west around the
globe, with maiden transits of both the Panama and
Suez Canals and calls at Los Angeles, Auckland,
Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Lisbon.
Queen Elizabeth will be in great
company as her sisters will be present on several
occasions during the voyage: she will sail in
tandem to New York with Queen Victoria
before all three Queens will meet for a Cunard
Royal Rendezvous in New York on 13 January
2011; and then she meets with Queen Mary 2
in Sydney and Civitavecchia and Queen
Victoria again in Aruba. Full World
Voyage fares aboard Queen Elizabeth
start from $19,995; Queen Elizabeth’s
Segment World Voyage fares start from $2,545.
Fares are based per person, double occupancy.
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