"Live from" Queen Elizabeth to the Mediterannean! My First Cunard Experience

[lovely_serenity]

Today’s lunch menu:

 

 

 

Almost all of us ordered the Smoked Salmon Tartare with Wasabi Crème Fraîche and Sliced Pickled Onions:

 

 

This was pretty good.

 

Mom ordered the Chilled Cranberry Soup:

 

 

This was alright.

 

First up was my entrée, the Cottage Pie with Buttered Garden Vegetables:

 

 

That was REALLY good. I enjoyed it very much. :)

 

Next was Mom and Dad’s entrée, the Grilled Fillet of Orange Roughy with Sauce Creole and Parsley Potatoes:

 

 

They quite enjoyed their entrées as well.

[lovely_serenity]

Last was Sis’s entrée, the Beef and Red Wine Ravioli with Tomato Sauce:

 

 

After we were all deliciously satisfied, we proceeded to dessert. First up was the Crème Caramel:

 

 

My parents really liked this dessert. They also ordered the Tapioca with Coconut Milk and Mango Sauce:

 

 

Which wasn’t bad either!

 

And finally, here was my dessert! The Mississippi Mud Pie with Vanilla Sauce:

 

 

I liked this dessert. It was essentially a dense chocolate cake with cream on top. Yes. Please. (though it was indeed dark chocolate, so it was somewhat bitter). All in all, good meal.

 

After lunch, we headed back to our rooms to relax for a bit. While Mom and Sis went to the gym and I inputted my logs for a while. Later in the afternoon, we headed up to the Lido to see what there was to eat. A good thing we did because apparently they were having a sushi bar!! I talked to the sushi chef and apparently they only hold this once or twice during the entire cruise and it is unannounced!

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

As you can see, I like sushi. LOL

 

 

Shortly thereafter, Mom and Dad joined us and our amount of food significantly increased. ^^”

 

Dad’s usual pasta:

 

 

Made by this guy:

 

 

A piece of cheesecake:

 

[lovely_serenity]

Some fruit:

 

 

Cranberry juice:

 

 

Mom and Dad’s sashimi:

 

 

And wasabi + soy sauce:

 

 

Some awesome deliciousness from the buffet:

 

 

(To be honest, I found that the QE had really good buffet food in comparison to the other cruise lines I’ve seen)

 

While we ate, I also took pictures of the Lido Drinks List (the alcohol and extra free drinks):

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

I then ate my usual ice cream:

 

 

 

Before we headed out. (I took a picture of the Lido menu before going):

 

 

We headed back and Mom and Dad did the laundry while Sis and I relaxed.

[lovely_serenity]

Edit: Post #698 - misspelled Sabbath*

[lovely_serenity]

After some logging and taking a nap, we slowly started getting ready for dinner. This time, we tried really hard to be on time. We felt really bad because we had been a little late for a few days because we got ready too slowly, and the day before, we were quite late because we accidentally didn’t wake up from our naps :/ Today we were right on time! Here was tonight’s menu:

 

 

 

For our appetizers, Dad, Mom and I got the Avocado, Tomato and Crab Salad with Espelette Chili Oil:

 

 

While Sis, (as well as Dad) got the Chilled Strawberry and Champagne Soup:

 

 

And the Grilled Singaporean Chicken Satay with Coconut Peanut Sauce:

 

 

For the entrée, Mom and Sis got the same thing. The Oven-roasted Salmon with Confit of Fennel and Dill Beurre Blanc:

 

 

(Which was very good)

[lovely_serenity]

Dad got the Braised Beef Short Ribs with Colcannon Potatoes, Root Vegetable Batons, Broccoli and Horseradish:

 

 

And I got the Spaghetti Vongole with Clams, Garlic, Herbs and Chablis Cream Sauce:

 

 

(which I enjoyed very much ^^)

 

On to dessert!

 

First up was the New York Cheesecake with Cherry Compote:

 

 

(which was room temperature, rich, thick, but not bad. A note though: the base of graham crackers was not good to me at all, since it had such an intense and overwhelming ginger flavour.)

 

Then was the Strawberry Parfait:

 

 

(which was just alright.)

 

And finally, the Chocolate Kahlua Cake from the Royal Spa Selections:

 

 

(This was the best dessert of the night. It just tasted like delicious, normal chocolate cake.)

[lovely_serenity]

And here were the petit-fours of the night:

 

 

(nothing special).

 

We were actually very disappointed with tonight’s service. It left Dad quite annoyed (I as well). Just like usual, our assistant server ignored us, but that wasn’t what bothered us. Tonight, it seemed that our head server was just being completely lazy. For example, while he was giving out the menus at the beginning, he distributed them like they were some kind of notice. He kind of just stretch across table, giving from one spot and we kind of just … passed them to one another. While he was taking our orders, instead of coming over to us individually, he just stayed at one spot and silently just gave us a look that was apparently to signal, “Hey, It’s your turn. Go”. Before leaving, he just looked at us and said, "No bread?" and began clearing all the bread plates before we had even responded. It also took him a remarkably long time to clear the plates today. They kind of just … sat in front of us for a good 20 minutes while he walked back and forth, passed our table. Another thing was the fact that he was too lazy to arrange the cutlery into the proper order. He kind of just … plopped them all down in the same place next to us. All in all, it was just a very disappointing night in terms of dinner service. We could literally feel his lack of care in how he took care of us. It was as though he were screaming, “Can we get this over with already?!”

 

After dinner, we left and headed to the Atrium to see what was going on. While we were there, I went to take a look at what the people eating at the Verandah:

 

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

I also briefly poked my head into the lower floor of the Library, since I realized that I had not seen it yet:

 

 

 

After that, we headed up to the Lido to see if there was anything interesting to eat. We didn’t really see anything, so I just took some pictures of dessert.

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

We then slowly started making our way to the theater for tonight’s show.

 

It had turned out that the Booth Special Treatment was being sold again. From the few times I have seen it, if there is a velvet rope blocking off the booth area, that meant that it was in the process of being sold. If the velvet rope was removed and unhooked, that meant that anyone was allowed to sit there. While we wait for the booths to be re-opened (when the show is going to start soon and they can’t seem to sell anymore), we find ourselves some seats in the upper middle area. (At this point, I really want a seat at the right side booth. Either 2nd or 3rd from the front, they’re my favourites. As we sit in the middle area, I keep a close eye on the people with the velvet rope. I also kind of loiter LOL. At one point, I leave my seat where my family is and I sit in seat where I can see everything (ie. the crew members and the velvet rope :D). As soon as the guy removes rope, I scurry my way over there. I probably looked hilarious. I suddenly popped out of my seat and shuffled as fast as my high heels would allow me. My family started laughing and said that the booth area had probably opened. They slowly make their way over and followed me.

 

 

Tonight’s show was Vanity Fair. I actually watched almost all of it! :D //proud

 

(Although I kind of dozed off halfway through the last song before waking back up at the end >_>’)

 

 

Edited July 28, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, quite a good show. (Although very British themed, a little difficult for me to understand some comedic references).

[lovely_serenity]

After that, we headed back up to the Lido to get some drinks.

 

 

 

While I was there, I also spotted that special Jasmine Lido meal that you could pay to eat:

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

After that, we returned to our rooms. Before sleeping, I decided to take pictures of all the documents that are in the drawer below the vanity. I thought they’d be important! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

 

After that, I went to sleep :)

 

 

End of Day 7

[jimmybean]

Hi Sarah!

 

There are photos and there are PHOTOS! Wow! I am blown away!

 

Thank you for taking the time and trouble for taking us along with you. I feel like I was right onboard. You remind me of the many pleasures aboard the QE.

 

Thank you! Thank you!!

 

Jimmybean

[lovely_serenity]

Hi Sarah!

 

There are photos and there are PHOTOS! Wow! I am blown away!

 

Thank you for taking the time and trouble for taking us along with you. I feel like I was right onboard. You remind me of the many pleasures aboard the QE.

 

Thank you! Thank you!!

 

Jimmybean

 

Hi Jimmybean! :)

 

Haha, thank you very much! ^^

 

It is my pleasure! && You are very welcome!

 

P.S. You made my day :D

[lovely_serenity]

Oh that’s right! Sorry! I forgot to upload the Daily Programmes and documents from the last 2 days! Here are the documents from our first day in Haifa:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

As well as our second day in Haifa:

 

 

 

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

Now that that’s done, let’s move on to the next day! On to Cyprus!! :D

[lovely_serenity]

Day 8: Limassol, Cyprus

 

Saturday, November 16, 2013 : Informal

 

 

At about 8am we woke up, excited for our day in Limassol! We had to get up earlier today even though we had no excursions, due to the fact that the ship was going to leave the dock late afternoon. I first took a look at the Daily Programme to see what was in store for me today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

 

 

 

After getting ready, we all met in the corridor and headed upstairs for a quick breakfast. (The dining room always serves the same thing, time to change things up!)

 

The first thing I took notice of was today’s smoothie of the day!

 

[lovely_serenity]

Here was Sis’s meal:

 

 

And here was mine!

 

 

 

This was Mom’s Japanese breakfast (Congee with some stuff in it):

 

 

And this was Dad’s:

 

 

Besides our drinks, we got a few glasses of ice to pour into our soda bottles back in the room:

 

 

As we ate, I told my parents about how I had a CC friend that was from Cyprus who had promised to come to the dock to wave at us. (maggiemou :D)

Edited July 30, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

I grabbed a Pineapple, Pear, Apricot & Mandarin smoothie and Sis took some photos while I drank:

 

 

 

 

After that, we all made our way down to deck A (the gangway) and got off the ship. We could see the excursion buses lined up to the side.

 

 

Beside them, we could see a ridiculously long line up:

 

 

Apparently, they were for the free shuttles that were supposed to take us all to downtown Cyprus.