Service history
The first master of Queen Elizabeth was Captain Christopher Wells.[12] On 4 October 2010 Queen Elizabeth was formally handed over to Cunard. She sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton on 12 October 2010, following a naming ceremony with the monarch on 11 October 2010.[13]
On 13 January 2011, two years after the first Cunard Royal Rendezvous, RMS Queen Mary 2 met up with Queen Victoria and the then brand new Queen Elizabeth for another Royal Rendezvous in New York City. Both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth made an Atlantic crossing in tandem for the event. All three Cunarders met in front of the Statue of Liberty at 6:45 pm for a Grucci fireworks display. The Empire State Building was lit up in red to mark the event.[14] At the end of October 2011 Queen Elizabeth and her fleet mates were registered to Hamilton, Bermuda, in order to host weddings aboard.[15]
On 5 June 2012 all three 'Queens' met once more, but this time in Southampton in order to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.[16] On 29 June 2012, the ship made her one and only visit to Ny-Ålesund, in Svalbard. The previous scheduled visit in 2011 had to be aborted due to bad weather. However, she was not scheduled to visit Svalbard in her 2013 schedule. Legislation relating to cruise ships visiting the archipelago (applicable from 2014) meant that Queen Elizabeth will never be able to visit again.[17] On 15 July 2012 both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 visited Hamburg for the first time together.[18]
On 12 March 2013 the cruise ship passed the former Cunard liner RMS Queen Mary, then a hotel in Long Beach, California, for the first time along with fireworks display.[19] On 31 August 2013, British journalist and broadcaster Sir David Frost died onboard of a heart attack. Frost had been invited to give a speech by Cunard whilst travelling on board the ship.[20]
On 1 March 2014 Queen Elizabeth sailed into Sydney Harbour displaying a 126-metres long rainbow 'Happy Mardi Gras' banner from her top decks in tribute to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.[21][22][23]
On 9 May 2014 both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria led Queen Mary 2 up the Southampton channel in single file, with both ships docking in a bow to bow formation performing a birthday salute to Queen Mary 2. Later on, all three Cunarders gathered for a fireworks display during which Queen Mary 2 led both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria back down the channel.[24]
On 20 December 2014 Queen Elizabeth on a four night cruise was unable to dock in Amsterdam due to stormy conditions and was forced to circle in the English channel before returning to Southampton early.[25]
In April 2015 while visiting Sihanoukville, Cambodia a passenger died on the Queen Elizabeth following an accident whilst boarding from a tender.[26][27][28]
Three Queens: Cunard's 175th anniversary
On 25 May 2015 the three 'Queens' were positioned at Liverpool celebrating 175 years of the formation of the Cunard Line, which was formed and based in the city. At low tide, the three ships stopped in line in middle of the River Mersey, bow to stern, turned 180 degrees in full synchronisation with each other, which was known as the "river dance", they then formed an arrow side by side. Queen Mary 2 was in the centre with its bow in line with the Cunard Building at the Pier Head. The Royal Air Force's display team, the Red Arrows, performed a flypast in Vic formation, emitting red, white and blue smoke, over the vessels. An estimated 1.3 million people lined the river banks to witness the spectacle.[29]
On 13 August 2016 Queen Elizabeth made the 2,500th cruise ship call at Kiel, Germany.[30]
QE2 50th Anniversary Celebration
In September 2017 the ship hosted a special commemorative cruise to honour the 50th anniversary of its predecessor QE2.
