Where it all began, Queen Elizabeth
Our cruise journey began in May 2023 when, during a Mother’s Day lunch, my mum mentioned that she was going on her first cruise. I’d never really considered cruising myself, as I had always assumed it was much cheaper to fly to a holiday hotspot and stay in a hotel for a couple of weeks — but I listened with some curiosity. She then went into a few of the details: it was a five-night voyage to Hobart, departing from and returning to Melbourne, and the statement that really caught my attention was, “and it’s on the Queen Elizabeth.”
A special moment, seeing her up close
Now, as a child I had a fascination with ocean liners (as well as aeroplanes, Lego and Star Wars — it was the late ’70s after all!), but I never thought I’d actually be able to sail on a Cunard Queen.
“How much do you think that costs?” she asked. I ran a few calculations in my head, but before I could finish, she blurted out, “$1,000 each! You can’t stay in a hotel for that, much less have all your food included.”
I grabbed my phone and visited the Cunard website. I trembled a bit (kind of like Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory when he had Leonard Nimoy’s DNA on a napkin — Google it), and had my first cruise booked and paid for that evening.
Our cruise wasn’t until December, but in the meantime I learned everything I could about Cunard, the ship and the onboard experience. I got more and more excited as our embarkation date approached and, before I knew it, it was 17 December and we were heading to Station Pier in Melbourne.
The first thing that caught my attention was her sheer size. Having only ever seen ships from a distance, I was taken aback by how big she was up close. We checked in and then boarded, finding ourselves in the Grand Lobby — an absolutely beautiful space decorated in an ageless, elegant Art Deco style that evoked memories of the great ocean liners of the past. We paid a quick visit to the buffet, explored the ship and snapped a few photos here and there, before making our way to the Britannia Restaurant (the ship’s main dining room) for dinner.
Thanks for getting us hooked Mum!
Split over two levels, the Britannia Restaurant is an incredibly impressive space, with exceptional service and a quality of dining I’d never really experienced before. It felt as if I had been transported to the golden age of the ocean liner, heading for New York on the grandest of ships.
The next four days were spent trying to experience everything the ship had to offer, and I had a real sense of FOMO. We were only on board for a few days and it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience — little did we know.
I started to look at everything that was on offer and tried to tick it all off: main dining, buffet, gala night, afternoon tea, theatre shows, trivia, the poolside grill — all while trying to explore Hobart during our time in port.
The Grand Lobby on embarkation day
We opted for the drinks package, and I developed a taste for Negronis (or a Queen’s Negroni, to be more precise), while Lee developed a taste for strawberry daiquiris — both of which we enjoyed in the Commodore Club, Queen Elizabeth’s forward observation lounge and piano bar.
Sadly, I couldn’t experience everything and missed out on a pub lunch at the Golden Lion. Before I knew it, it was time to pack and get ready to disembark.
I wasn’t ready to leave the ship when we returned to Melbourne — I had found my happy place.
I had a serious case of PCB (post-cruise blues) and became a little obsessed with following the ship on tracking sites, watching countless videos on YouTube to get my fix.
Eventually, I bit the bullet and booked a second cruise on Queen Elizabeth — a much longer 12-night itinerary. But that wouldn’t be until January 2025 and, unfortunately, it would be part of Cunard’s Australian farewell season.
To be continued…. in 2025.