Day 1 - Sunday 17 February 2013

After a lovely flight over, here we are in a pleasantly warm Auckland.  Hope it stays like this until our departure on Wednesday.
We are staying with family who enjoy a wonderful view of the Waitemata Harbour and the main shipping lane. As well as many cargo ships we've seen today it's been great to watch P & O Aurora and Sea Princess sail passed and into the sunset.

All packed and ready to go.... getting excited now.

I was looking at the Port of Auckland cruise schedule and saw that the Queen Victoria is in Auckland the day before we leave.  Just might pop down and have a look at her. 
The weather in Auckland for the coming week is looking good, hope it stays that way.

Now, shall I take just one more pair of shoes?

“It isn’t that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better.” -Sir Francis Drake

This is take two of recent for us.  We cancelled our previous cruise which was to be on P & O Arcadia.

Cunard is a new company to try for us, and as we are always enthusiastic about trying new cruiselines and ships,we are really looking forward to boarding Queen Elizabeth.

She is a relatively new ship with the following statistics:

Entered service in 2010
Registered in Bermuda
Service Speed 21.7 knots
Maximum Speed 23.7 knots
Gross tonnage 90,900 GRT
Guest capacitiy 2068
Crew 1,005
Length overall 294 metres
Width 32.25 metres
Draft 8 metres

This is how it all started.
In return for a British government loan, in 1929 Cunard agreed to complete the construction of Queen Mary and take over the running of the White Star Transatlantic Fleet.
Today, White Star Service is a lasting legacy of our historical connection to the White Star Line and honours the golden era of these elegant and luxurious vessels. Cunard is synonymous with elegance, luxury and its renowned White Star Service which sets the standard by which all others are judged. Cunard’s commitment to ensuring each guest is pampered begins at the White Star Academy where each crew member is trained to provide impeccable service.

This will be a new experience for us. The ship looks to be quite elegant with a taste of Art Deco. The dress is quite formal with Elegant Casual, Semi Formal and Formal evenings.
I note that the Formal evenings are titled with names like Cunard Ball, London Ball, South Pacific Ball, Roaring Twenties Ball and Starlight Ball. We love to dance but maybe we had better brush up a bit more as we're definitely not "Dancing with the Stars" quality.....

We have done this itinerary before in reverse. It's a lovely journey through the pristine waters of the South Pacific to the islands of Tahiti and Hawaii and on to Los Angeles.
 
It didn't take much to twist our arms to try a cruise on this ship with these ports of call.